The talk will accompany the screening of Ökozid by Andres Veiel, which will be freely available to stream for a fortnight on Goethe on Demand.
Do governments have the moral and legal responsibility to not only fulfil their set climate goals but to take them much further? Is a government liable if it violates the right to life and to an unspoiled nature because of its insufficient measures? How far does its accountability go and what are the moral implications and consequences with regard to the younger generations and in the eye of increasing environmental disasters worldwide?
These and other questions will be discussed in the talk “The Right to an Unspoiled Nature is the Right to Life” with Andres Veiel hosted by Dr Rachel Howell.
Andres Veiel is one of the most renowned German directors and documentary filmmakers. He is considered a representative of a politically engaged art and the main characteristic of his working method is intensive research, sometimes lasting several years, as a basis for his films and projects.
After studying psychology at the FU Berlin and training as a director at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin under the direction of Kieślowski, he has been working since 1990 as a screenwriter and director on film and theatre projects, most of which are located in the border areas between reality and fiction.
Dr Rachel Howell is Environmental Social Scientist specializing in human dimensions of, and responses to, climate change. She lectures in Sociology/Sustainable Development at the University of Edinburgh. Her research interests and expertise include amongst others lower-carbon/sustainable lifestyles, climate change communications and discourses, pro-environmental behaviour change and energy-related social practices.
About the film
The film Ökozid is a courtroom drama on climate catastrophe that is as quiet as it is spectacular. In the year 2034, 31 states file a lawsuit against the Federal Republic of Germany to claim damages for the consequences of climate change. Ökozid virtuously oscillates between past, present and future, between docu-drama and fictional documentary.
"Veiel does not stage a tribunal of 'good versus evil,' but a rhetorical struggle between solid German pragmatism, guided by locational interests, and global morality. Lots of half shots, fewer close-ups. 'Ecocide' does not want to suggest, but to put up for debate."
Die Tageszeitung, 18.11.2020
The talk is free but we would like to ask you to book a ticket on Eventbrite.
The discussion will be interpreted into British Sign Language.
