NECESSITY
Oil, Water, and Climate Resistance
Support the Movement Instead of the Mall:
A Powerful Film Series on Climate Resistance
We urge you to support NECESSITY: OIL, WATER, AND CLIMATE RESISTANCE—a documentary project that speaks to one of the most pressing questions at this juncture in history: What to do about climate change.
The NECESSITY team set a goal to raise $20,000 so that we can continue to document and share the stories of climate activists struggling to stop the expansion of the fossil fuel industry. We have made one close-to-completed film. Our aim now is to create a documentary series.
Time for Action is Growing Short
Science shows that humanity has only a short window of time to respond to global warming before that window closes and we face catastrophic consequences. Marginalized communities--Indigenous, people of color and the poor--are already facing the severe effects of climate change. In response to the scale of the climate emergency, activists increasingly call for large scale acts of civil disobedience. It is not enough to simply document the scale of global warming or the threat to life on this planet, however. Nor is it enough to just call people to join various actions. We need to follow and learn from people who have been working on the front lines of the climate justice movement.
NECESSITY asks:
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What happens when climate protesters are arrested? How do the consequences differ for Indigenous people versus non-Indigenous people, for young versus old people?
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As anti-protest laws turn misdemeanors into felonies, how do concerned citizens decide whether to join the resisters?
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How do regional activists form alliances and build a movement across areas of differences, including the rural/ urban divide?
NECESSITY takes up gripping questions at
the heart of the fight to save the planet.
As filmmakers, we are bringing to the general public the stories of compelling people organizing around the fight and the vision of a better world that inspires them. The film project draws viewers into the stirring moments and dilemmas that arise. Their stories also carry important insights on legal tactics and the lessons they draw from earlier social movements.
What is the “Necessity Defense”?
We began filming in October 2018 as our crew followed resistance to the construction of Line 3 in Minnesota-- a pipeline carrying the highly toxic tar sands oil from Canada through critical waterways in the Midwest. The story unfolds around the use of the necessity defense at trial for Water Protectors and non-Indigenous allies. The necessity defense is a legal strategy where a criminal act such as trespassing is defended on the basis of a moral necessity. Essentially, you are saying, “I had to do it because the consequences of not taking action would have been worse than the action I took.”
NECESSITY: OIL, WATER, AND CLIMATE RESISTANCE--the film we produced based on that story of resistance in Minnesota—places their struggle in the larger context of the lethal web of oil pipelines spanning North America.
Help Us Keep the Momentum Going
NECESSITY is garnering interest around the country and you can help us keep the momentum going. Over the past six months, this nearly finished documentary has screened at over a dozen conferences, churches, climate activist and education events, including the conference of the Society of Indian Psychologists, Honor the Earth, Extinction Rebellion (XR) chapters, 350 chapters, the Northwest Conference on Teaching for Social Change, and the Berklee College of Music. Teachers have contributed to a curriculum guide that our team is developing as well. See what one leading educator has to say about the film:
We Need Your Support NOW to Keep Telling This Story of Resistance
Students and climate activists have encouraged us to include more sites of resistance in the format of a series. NECESSITY was also selected by Doc Society NYC in summer 2019 to pitch as a multi-part doc-series with each episode telling a story of resistance surrounding climate in different regions of North America.
As we follow the story of this network of resistance to the fossil fuel industry, we are also producing short videos for our partner climate justice organizations. These short videos illustrate a legal tactic or lesson from the movement—lessons we will be bringing into this film series.
Important Stories Rarely Told
With your help, we can continue to document the actions of these warriors for climate justice who are often only fleetingly covered or are overlooked entirely in mainstream media. With the money we raise, we will:
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Return to Minnesota to follow the indigenous climate activist group, Honor the Earth, and their fight against the expansion of Line 3, a pipeline for highly toxic tar sands
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Follow the trial of activists who blocked the Zenith oil transport terminal in Portland
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Travel to British Columbia to cover First Nations actions in opposition to the Trans Mountain Pipeline
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Return to the San Francisco Bay Area to continue to tell the story there of climate resistance, youth resistance, and the campaign to make PG&E a public utility.
Our goal is to raise $20,000.
Over the holiday season, please consider giving generously to help our team keep this project going. In addition to footage for the series, we will continue to produce short videos for our partners on the front lines of the climate struggle.
For those who can donate $100 or more,
we have a special offer.
For every $100 donation, we will add your name or the name of someone you choose* to the film credits of episode one! For $500, you can name your favorite organization to be included in the credits as well!
(*Note: the person/group will be contacted to confirm their agreement for their name to be included on the credits.)
Help Spread the Word!
You can also support us by getting the word out. Share this film with your network and urge friends and family to contribute —to show how a better world is not only possible but necessary.
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