Earth Days

Last updated
Earth Days
EarthDays poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Robert Stone
Written byRobert Stone
Produced byRobert Stone
CinematographyHoward Shack
Edited byDon Kleszy
Robert Stone
Music by Michael Giacchino
Production
companies
American Experience
Robert Stone Productions
WGBH
Distributed by Zeitgeist Films
Release dates
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.2 million
Box office$23,179

Earth Days is a 2009 documentary film about the history of the environmental movement in the United States, directed by Robert Stone and distributed by Zeitgeist Films in theaters. Earth Days premiered at the 2009 Wisconsin Film Festival, and released to theatres on August 14, 2009.

Contents

Overview

Earth Days combines personal testimony and archival media. The film reviews the development of the modern environmental movement—from the post-war 1950s and the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s bestseller Silent Spring , to the successful Earth Day celebration in 1970. Featured pioneers of the era include the former United States Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall; biologist Paul Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb ; Whole Earth Catalog founder Stewart Brand; Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart; "The Forecaster" Dennis Meadows, scientist and Emeritus Professor of Systems Management; and "The Politician" Pete McCloskey, former Republican. Also included are Richard Nixon, former Governor of California Jerry Brown, Jimmy Carter, Denis Hayes, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, and Hunter Lovins.

Release

The film premiered on April 2, 2009 at the Wisconsin Film Festival. [1] It went on to have a limited theatrical release on August 14, 2009. [2] It aired on US television on April 19, 2010 as part of the American Experience series on PBS. [3]

Critical reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 82% based on 33 reviews, and an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "This engaging and well-organized eco-doc maps the successes and failures of the American environmental movement, thanks to sharp interviews and remarkable archive footage." [4] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [5]

Awards and nominations

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Street Fight</i> (film) 2005 American film

Street Fight is a 2005 documentary film by Marshall Curry, chronicling the 2002 Newark mayoral election which pitted upstart Cory Booker against the incumbent Sharpe James for Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. Other credits include Rory Kennedy, Liz Garbus, Mary Manhardt, Marisa Karplus, Catherine Jones, and Adam Etline. Street Fight screened at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival and was later aired on the PBS series P.O.V. on July 5, 2005, and CBC Newsworld in Canada on May 7, 2006. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

<i>In the Realms of the Unreal</i> 2004 American film

In the Realms of the Unreal is a 2004 American documentary film written and directed by Jessica Yu about American outsider artist Henry Darger (1892–1973).

<i>Chicago 10</i> (film) 2007 American film

Chicago 10: Speak Your Peace is a 2007 American animated documentary written and directed by Brett Morgen that tells the story of the Chicago Eight. The Chicago Eight were charged by the United States federal government with conspiracy, crossing state lines with intent to incite a riot, and other charges related to anti-Vietnam War and countercultural protests in Chicago, Illinois during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

<i>The Betrayal – Nerakhoon</i> 2008 American film

The Betrayal — Nerakhoon is a 2008 documentary film directed by Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Curry</span> American film director (born 1970)

Marshall Curry is an Oscar-winning American documentary director, producer, cinematographer and editor. His films include Street Fight, Racing Dreams, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Point and Shoot, and A Night at the Garden. His first fiction film was the Academy Award-winning short film The Neighbors' Window (2019).

<i>American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein</i> 2009 American documentary film

American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein is a 2009 documentary film about the life of the American academic Norman Finkelstein, directed and produced by David Ridgen and Nicolas Rossier. The documentary features Finkelstein and several of his supporters and opponents, including Noam Chomsky and Alan Dershowitz.

<i>A Film Unfinished</i> 2010 German film

A Film Unfinished is a 2010 documentary film by Yael Hersonski.

<i>If a Tree Falls</i> 2011 documentary film

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front is a 2011 American documentary film by filmmaker Marshall Curry. It tells the story of activist Daniel G. McGowan of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), from his first arson attacks in 1996 to his 2005 arrest by the Department of Justice. The film also examines the ethics of the ELF at large and how terrorism is to be defined.

<i>God Loves Uganda</i> 2013 American documentary

God Loves Uganda is a 2013 American documentary film produced and directed by Roger Ross Williams, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. It explores connections between evangelicalism in North America and in Uganda, suggesting that the North American influence is the reason behind the controversial Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, which at one point raised the possibility of the death penalty for gays and lesbians. The filmmakers follow a group of young missionaries from the International House of Prayer in their first missionary effort in another nation, as well as interviewing several evangelical leaders from the US and Uganda.

<i>The Square</i> (2013 film) 2013 Egyptian film by Jehane Noujaim

The Square is a 2013 Egyptian-American documentary film by Jehane Noujaim, which depicts the Egyptian Crisis until 2013, starting with the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 at Tahrir Square. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 86th Academy Awards. It also won three Emmy Awards at the 66th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, out of four for which it was nominated.

<i>The Internets Own Boy</i> 2014 American film

The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz is a 2014 American biographical documentary film about Aaron Swartz written, directed, and produced by Brian Knappenberger. The film premiered in the US Documentary Competition program category at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2014.

<i>20,000 Days on Earth</i> 2014 British documentary film

20,000 Days on Earth is a 2014 British musical documentary drama film co-written and directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard. Nick Cave also co-wrote the script with Forsyth and Pollard. The film premiered in-competition in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on 20 January 2014. It won two Awards at the festival.

<i>Concerning Violence</i> 2014 documentary film directed by Göran Olsson

Concerning Violence is a 2014 documentary film written and directed by Göran Olsson. It is based on Frantz Fanon's essay, Concerning Violence, from his 1961 book The Wretched of the Earth. American singer and actress Lauryn Hill served as the narrator in the English-language release of the film, while Finnish actress Kati Outinen provides narration for the original Swedish release.

<i>Last Days in Vietnam</i> 2014 film by Rory Kennedy

Last Days in Vietnam is a 2014 American documentary film written, produced and directed by Rory Kennedy. The film had its world premiere at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2014.

<i>My Perestroika</i> 2010 American film

My Perestroika is a 2010 American documentary film directed by Robin Hessman. It examines life during and after the USSR through the personal stories of five ordinary Russians, who speak about their Soviet childhood, the collapse of the USSR, and contemporary Russia.

<i>Prophets Prey</i> 2015 American documentary film

Prophet's Prey is a 2015 American documentary directed and written by Amy J. Berg. The film follows Warren Jeffs, the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who is now running the religion from the confines of the Texas state prison, serving out a life sentence, for the rape of young girls. The film is an adaption of the 2011 book of the same name by Sam Brower, who also serves as a producer on the film. Ron Howard serves as an executive producer under his Imagine Entertainment banner.

<i>Zero Days</i> 2016 film

Zero Days is a 2016 American documentary film directed by Alex Gibney. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival.

<i>Command and Control</i> (film) 2016 American film

Command and Control is a 2016 American documentary film directed by Robert Kenner and based on the 2013 non-fiction book of the same name by Eric Schlosser. It was released initially in the United States at the Tribeca Film Festival and then in the United Kingdom at the Sheffield Doc/Fest on June 11, 2016. It is based on the 1980 Damascus Titan missile explosion in Damascus, Arkansas between September 18–19, 1980. The film aired on the PBS network series American Experience on January 10, 2017.

<i>City of Ghosts</i> (2017 film) 2017 documentary film by Matthew Heineman

City of Ghosts is a 2017 Arabic-language American documentary film about the Syrian media activist group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently as they face the realities of life undercover, on the run, and in exile after their homeland is taken over by ISIS in 2014. The film was directed by Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman.

<i>Hale County This Morning, This Evening</i> 2018 American film

Hale County This Morning, This Evening is a 2018 American documentary film about the lives of black people in Hale County, Alabama. It is directed by RaMell Ross and produced by RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes, Su Kim, and is Ross's first nonfiction feature. The documentary is the winner of 2018 Sundance Film Festival award for U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Creative Vision, 2018 Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Cinema Eye Honors Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. After its theatrical run, it aired on the PBS series Independent Lens and eventually won a 2020 Peabody Award.

References

  1. "2009 Wisconsin Film Festival Film Guide". Issuu. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  2. Catsoulis, Jeannette (13 August 2009). "Planetary Reflections". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 June 2020 via NYTimes.com.
  3. "American Experience: Earth Days". Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
  4. "Earth Days (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  5. "Earth Days Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  6. "2010 Writers Guild Award Winners". TVSourceMagazine.com. 21 February 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2019.