A Global Campaign
An Inconvenient Truth shows us what Al Gore has been doing since conceding the U.S. presidential election to George W. Bush in 2000. He has been traveling the world, standing before audiences large and small, and trying to persuade them that reducing global warming is not a political issue but a moral imperative.The surprising thing is how effectively he does it. (Watch the movie trailer.)
The wooden delivery and wonky explanations that marked Gore’s presidential campaign are gone. On film, and in the many personal appearances he has been making to preview and promote An Inconvenient Truth, Gore is cogent, relaxed, and frequently funny.
He presents an urgent and compelling call to action—backed by scientific evidence—that leaves audiences feeling deeply troubled but also energized, and eager to do whatever they can to avert the rapidly approaching global environmental crisis we all helped to create.
Reaching a Wider Audience
Two people who saw Gore’s show and felt compelled to take action were movie producer Lawrence Bender and leading environmental activist Laurie David. David hosted two of Gore’s sold-out presentations in New York and Los Angeles, and found the show to be a transforming experience, but she also saw that Gore faced a daunting challenge in getting his message out.
“Having researched this subject for some 40 years, nobody understands the issue better than Al Gore and nobody can explain it more clearly and compellingly to the lay person,” David says. “But he would have to be on the road 365 days a year to reach even a fraction of the people who need to be reached, and there just isn’t time.”
From Slide Show to Feature Film
David and Bender contacted award-winning writer Scott Z. Burns and Jeff Skoll, who runs Participant Productions, the socially conscious company that produced such films as Good Night and Good Luck and Syriana in 2005. After seeing Gore’s presentation, both men became just as excited about the project as David and Bender, so the four decided to approach Gore about doing a film.It didn’t take long to convince Gore. “He immediately understood that while he had been getting his message out to thousands of people with his show, a movie could potentially get the message out to millions,” Bender says.
The filmmakers hired veteran director Davis Guggenheim to take Gore’s slide show from the lecture hall to the big screen. Although skeptical at first about the viability of making a film about a slide show, Guggenheim was convinced after seeing Gore’s presentation.
“The thing you dream about as a filmmaker is finding a subject that hooks you in the gut and says ‘you have to make this movie,’ and this movie had that for me," he says. "There was the feeling that if I never did anything else with my life except convey this story, that alone would be a pretty big thing.”
A Message of Hope
There was still the big question of how audiences would respond to the film—but those fears were soon put to rest.An Inconvenient Truth received three standing ovations at the Sundance Film Festival, wowed the audience at Cannes, and has been playing to packed houses at previews nationwide.
Part of the reason may be that Gore presents a powerful message that combines factual information, humor and, ultimately, hope.
Gore believes our biggest problem related to global warming is one of misconception—and the biggest misconception is that nothing can be done about it.
The heart of Gore’s message is that the way to prevent the potential catastrophe global warming represents is for each of us to make a personal commitment to bring about lasting change—in our own lives, our communities and the world. According to the science Gore presents so expertly, the world has 10 years or less to turn things around before it is too late. But Gore sees that as a reason for urgency, not despair.
“We no longer have much time left to change,” he says, “but we do have time.”
