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Sat, Feb 11 2012
Bulgaria screens The Age of Stupid
Pete Postlethwaite plays an archivist living in 2055, reflecting on mankind's folly
Photo: Wikipedia
Bulgaria saw the premiere of Franny Armstrong's The Age of stupid at Sofia's Arena West complex on September 23.
The film was released internationally on September 21 and 22 in a "Global Premiere". A green carpet, solar-powered cinema tent in New York was linked by satellite to 442 cinemas across the USA and to 200 cinemas in more than 45 other countries.
Special guests included Kofi Annan, actor Pete Postlethwaite (who playes an archivist living in 2055, reflecting on mankind's folly) and actress Gillian Anderson.
Before the Bulgarian premiere, former tennis player and environmental activist Magdalena Maleeva gave a speech to the audience in which she highlighted the importance of the film's message. Maleeva has been very active with the environmental organisation Gorichka.bg, which works to create public awareness about urgent environmental problems.
The Age of Stupid focused on human stories rather than offering dry sermons crammed with statistics. Among those depicted in the movie were: A veteran French mountaineer bemoaning the impact of global warming on Mont Blanc, a British wind-turbine developer trying to convince opponents that saving the environment is more important than guaranteeing their aesthetic pleasures in the Cornish countryside, a Nigerian villager dreaming of a better life and an American oilman turned environmentalist whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Cast as the villain of the piece -- and it must be said the film treated his not altogether dishonourable motives with alarming condescension -- was Indian entrepreneur Jeh Wadia, keen on setting up a low budget airline. This was probably the weakest part of the film because in a rather clumsy way, by constantly flitting between his aspirations and natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, The Age of Stupid tried to imply that he was responsible for global catastrophes elsewhere. But, as Wadia himself says: "Aviation contributes less than 1.6 per cent of total greenhouse gases."
The Age of Stupid should serve as a wake-up call to both the general population and global elites, even though it's a shade over-hyped and offers nothing particular revelatory to those familiar with the subject.
The film was released internationally on September 21 and 22 in a "Global Premiere". A green carpet, solar-powered cinema tent in New York was linked by satellite to 442 cinemas across the USA and to 200 cinemas in more than 45 other countries.
Special guests included Kofi Annan, actor Pete Postlethwaite (who playes an archivist living in 2055, reflecting on mankind's folly) and actress Gillian Anderson.
Before the Bulgarian premiere, former tennis player and environmental activist Magdalena Maleeva gave a speech to the audience in which she highlighted the importance of the film's message. Maleeva has been very active with the environmental organisation Gorichka.bg, which works to create public awareness about urgent environmental problems.
The Age of Stupid focused on human stories rather than offering dry sermons crammed with statistics. Among those depicted in the movie were: A veteran French mountaineer bemoaning the impact of global warming on Mont Blanc, a British wind-turbine developer trying to convince opponents that saving the environment is more important than guaranteeing their aesthetic pleasures in the Cornish countryside, a Nigerian villager dreaming of a better life and an American oilman turned environmentalist whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Cast as the villain of the piece -- and it must be said the film treated his not altogether dishonourable motives with alarming condescension -- was Indian entrepreneur Jeh Wadia, keen on setting up a low budget airline. This was probably the weakest part of the film because in a rather clumsy way, by constantly flitting between his aspirations and natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, The Age of Stupid tried to imply that he was responsible for global catastrophes elsewhere. But, as Wadia himself says: "Aviation contributes less than 1.6 per cent of total greenhouse gases."
The Age of Stupid should serve as a wake-up call to both the general population and global elites, even though it's a shade over-hyped and offers nothing particular revelatory to those familiar with the subject.
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2012 to premiere at 12 past midnight on November 13
Sofia cinema's will premiere 2012 at 12 past midnight in the morning of November 13 2009
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This comment has been hidden by the moderator because it contained дискриминация.
The so called boffins are now saying that the ice is melting faster than expected and we have only about 14yrs to the tipping point. Here is a suggestion funny but serious, everyone dump the car and buy a horse.
I'm sorry 'not so sure', but your comment is downright ignorant. You should go and see the film since I suppose it was made for people like you who tend to 'underestimate' the problem. Global warMing (not warNing, by the way) won't just make the weather in Northern Europe warmer, it can also work the other way around - winters can get a lot more severe that you are used to. In short it affects the weather in a variety of ways and mostly we tend to experience sudden jumps and drops in temperature or abrupt changes from calm to [...]
Read the full comment stormy weather. What used to be four seasons only until some 10 years ago, that changed gradually, now looks more like abrupt jumps from winter into summer then suddenly into a cold autumn. All these climatic anomalies would have its effect on nature in the long run and consequently on all of us humans. We must open our eyes to this reality.
Global warning may not be so bad. It would get warmer in northern Europe and people wont have to travel by plane to get to the Med and so save the environment that way
I am sorry I couldn't make it to the premiere at Arena West. I really wanted to see this film. For me climatic change and its consequences for life on our planet is perhaps the most serious issue that we are facing as mankind. Governments and businesses should act now to prevent what could become a reality just in 20 years time.