HOME: the film wanting humans to love their planet again

HOME, the film that swung the French voters on Sunday?  The debate is still ongoing as to how much of a crucial role the film played in the groundbreaking result of the French European elections.  And by “groundbreaking”, I am not referring to the right-wing, Sarkozy-headed UMP overall victory, but rather to the quieter 3^rd position which the green party Europe Ecologie took by convincing 16% of French voters.

On Monday, French newspapers such as Le Monde and Le Figaro talked of the strategic airing on Friday night of environmentally awakening film HOME on France 2 to an audience of over 8 million people.  Did it sway the votes?  Did it make more people walk towards the polling stations?  Was it an open endorsement of Cohn-Bendit’s Europe Ecologie?

Maybe.

Speaking of his film, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, a French photographer known for his breathtaking renderings of Earth’s most beautiful sceneries from the sky speaks of “propaganda”.

“It is a propaganda film, almost like a manifesto.  It is a film which has taken a side and seeks to explain that our way of living on earth is not viable, and that we are having an impact on the Earth which is superior to what it can deal with.”

The film is exclusively filmed from the air, and showing awe inspiring views from around the globe, a voice tells the spectator of the Earth’s story.  It talks of the “natural balance” which has made our Earth what it is over billion of years, and how human beings have managed to totally disrupt it in the last 50 years alone.

“I thought that maybe by showing people the beautiful things that are left on our planet, they may feel the necessity to fight to keep them”, says its creator.

Produced by Luc Besson, and financed by the luxury group PPR through François-Henri Pinault, with voiceovers by Salma Hayek and Glenn Close, the film was released to the general public on Friday June 5 in all formats with an aim at being completely free.  Beyond being aired on French television, it was also released in English, Spanish and German on YouTube, and shown in open-air cinemas in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and in Central Park in New-York.  Free dvds are also being distributed in schools all over France.

Critics have been whispering “greenwashing” – that this is a huge advertising ploy to wash PPR’s consumerist conscience, and convince buyers that Prada is actually green friendly.

Propaganda?  Greenwashing?  Vote influencing?  Forced environmentalism?

Does it matter when we only have a few years to make a difference?

 

Watch the film on YouTube for free until June 14: 

www.youtube.com/homeproject