Film & Talk: “This Changes Everything” at The Parrish Art Museum

$15 | $5 for Members, Children, and Students

Join us for a screening of the film, This Changes Everything, followed by a talk with Thaddeus Pawlowski, Director at the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes at Columbia GSAPP, and Corinne Erni, Senior Curator for ArtsReach and Special Projects.

Directed by Avi Lewis, and inspired by Naomi Klein’s international non-fiction bestseller by the same name, This Changes Everything presents seven powerful portraits of communities on the front lines, from Montana’s Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing and beyond. Interwoven with these stories of struggle is Klein’s narration, connecting the carbon in the air with the economic system that put it there. Throughout the film, Klein builds to her most controversial and exciting idea: that we can seize the existential crisis of climate change to transform our failed economic system into something radically better. 

Filmed over 211 days in nine countries and five continents over four years, This Changes Everything is a formidable attempt to re-imagine the vast challenge of climate change. The extraordinary detail and richness of the cinematography provides an epic canvas for this exploration of the greatest challenge of our time. Provocative, compelling, and accessible to even the most climate-fatigued audiences, This Changes Everything will leave viewers refreshed and inspired, reflecting on the ties between us, the kind of lives we really want, and why the climate crisis is at the center of it all.

Over the course of 90 minutes, viewers will meet:

Crystal, a young indigenous leader in Tar Sands country, as she fights for access to a restricted military base in search of answers about an environmental disaster in progress.

Mike and Alexis, a Montana goat ranching couple who see their dreams coated in oil from a broken pipeline. They respond by organizing against fossil fuel extraction in their beloved Powder River Basin, and forming a new alliance with the Northern Cheyenne tribe to bring solar power to the nearby reservation.

Melachrini, a housewife in Northern Greece where economic crisis is being used to justify mining and drilling projects that threaten the mountains, seas, and tourism economy. Against the backdrop of Greece in crisis, a powerful social movement rises.

Jyothi, a matriarch in Andhra Pradesh, India who sings sweetly and battles fiercely along with her fellow villagers, fighting a proposed coal-fired power plant that will destroy a life-giving wetland. In the course of this struggle, they help ignite a nationwide movement.

About Naomi Klein

Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, columnist and author of the New York Times and international bestsellers, No is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need (2017), This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate (2014), The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (2007) and No Logo (2000).

About Thaddeus Pawlowski

Thaddeus Pawlowski is an urban designer who integrates resilience and climate change adaptation into the long-term development patterns of cities through the design of projects, policies, and programs. In a partnership with 100 Resilient Cities and the Rockefeller Foundation, he helped to establish the Resilience Accelerator which brings together local leaders and global experts to drive the implementation of resilient projects around the world. Thaddeus planned for disasters at NYC Office of Emergency Management, worked to reduce the likelihood and impact of disasters at NYC Planning, and helped the City recover from Hurricane Sandy at the NYC Mayor’s Office. He also has extensive global experience as an expert in cities facing the hazards of climate change.

Friday Nights are made possible, in part, by the generous support of The Corcoran Group, BNB Bank, and Sandy and Steven Perlbinder.