The terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 changed the lives of millions of people and the way they saw the world. This is what happened to Flore Vasseur, the director of the documentary film Bigger than us or Bigger than us. He was in New York at the time: “In addition to the logical fear and confusion, I was ashamed. I left my company and immersed myself in this new emotion.” Over time, he directed and published Meeting Snowden, but it didn’t have the social impact he wanted. The documentary took shape through a conversation with his then seven-year-old son about climate change. I promised him I would make a film about the contamination to explain what was happening,” Vasseur recalls. Bigger than Us will premiere on October 10th at the French Institute as part of the Another Way film festival in Madrid. Invisible Demons, by film director Rahul Jain, opened the conference, which focuses on climate change and its adverse and transversal impacts on global society.
Actress Marion Cotillard (La vie en rose) co-produced the film with Vasseur and Denis Carot. “I have been involved in environmental and social causes for more than 20 years and try to raise awareness for a fairer world. As a mother, I immediately felt that my children could teach me a lot. The new generation chooses life and dignity. They show us the way. That’s why I decided to produce this film and to help Flore, Melati and all these young activists who want to make a difference.
Melati Wijsen, 12, organized a hunger strike that led to a ban on plastic bags and straws in Bali
A simple internet search was enough to find the protagonist of Vasseur’s new project, Melati Wijsen, who, together with her younger sister, launched a campaign called Bye Bye Plastic Bags in 2013. To attract public attention and he was just 12 years old, he organized a hunger strike and demanded a meeting with the then governor of Bali, I Made Mangku Pastika. The initiative led to an executive order banning plastic bags and straws in the region from 2018. After six years as a local activist, Melati Wijsen decided she needed to go one step further and get to know the faces and stories of different activists.
Environmentalists Melati and Isabel Wijsen during the Great Bali Cleanup 2020 at Petitenget beach on the Indonesian island of JENYA KADNIKOVA (Portal)
Vasseur recalls that when he met the young activist, he “hallucinated” because her speech was the same as Snowden’s. “It’s amazing to see two completely different generations saying the same thing.” Furthermore, he adds: “He has a great sense of urgency, he kept saying ‘there is no time’ and although it wasn’t exactly what he was referring to, he was right because Covid emerged shortly after. “
The eco-activist’s journey begins in Lebanon with Mohamed Al Jounde, a young Syrian refugee who decided to flee his country after Islamic State put a price on his family’s head. In the host country he had adjustment and acceptance difficulties. Michel Aoun’s government does not allow refugees in Lebanon to attend public schools, says Al Jounde. To continue their education, they have to do so in the private system, which is “very expensive” and an unrealistic option for those fleeing their homes, he explains. As with almost all of the activists involved in the film, the first-person experience led him to start a school for people like him. The government protested and tore it down, but it was rebuilt and now has 200 students and six full-time teachers.
Although the seven participants in the audiovisual project do not have the same starting point, they are all connected. “The world is merging so much that they are now a part of me,” reflects Wijsen in an exercise showing the invisible tentacles of globalization.
It’s hard to see how happy they are to have arrived in Europe when you know that in a few hours they will be in Moria, the Guantanamo of the Mediterranean Sea
Mary Finn, Refugee Rescue volunteer
Mary Finn, along with other volunteers from the NGO Refugee Rescue, rescues migrants fleeing the African continent, 80% for reasons of food insecurity, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). “It’s hard to see how happy they are to have arrived in Europe when you know that in a few hours they will be in Moria, the Guantanamo of the Mediterranean,” he admits to Wijsen.
Winnie Tushabe helps Uganda’s poorest (mostly refugees) survive through permaculture, a type of sustainable agriculture that takes into account social, economic and environmental dimensions. This West African country has more than 1.45 million forcibly displaced people, according to UNHCR data. Ugandan law provides for refugees to be given citizenship and a piece of land, but it’s “useless,” says the local farmer, because overuse of pesticides has parched the land. The project is led by women. “There’s a culture of silence here, and I realized that because they were starving, they needed to be relieved of that shame,” he explains.
Indigenous activist and rapper Xiuhtezcatl Martínez in a concert during the taping of Elzévir Films’ documentary Bigger than Us
Xiuhtezcatl Martínez, a young US rapper, managed to ban the use of pesticides in his city’s playgrounds and sued the state of Colorado and then the government for failing to protect future generations. He uses art, rap to defend environmental justice and his indigenous heritage.
Memory Banda challenged the tradition of institutionalized rape of young girls in initiation camps in Malawi and successfully lobbied for the constitution to change the legal age of marriage from 15 to 18. Today she is committed to empowering girls, guaranteeing their rights and keeping them in school. In Malawi, according to the latest Unicef data, 46% of them are married before the age of 18.
In Malawi, 42% of girls are married before the age of 18
UNICEF
Actor Nico Romero (Cable Girls and Riot Police, among others) will use Vasseur’s documentary to start a debate after next Monday’s screening at the French Institute. “I see a lot of messages on networks: disobedience. Taking in refugees the system doesn’t want, as Mary Finn and her team are doing, is disobedience. Protesting is necessary, but I like to see that there are people who are so young and who are so committed to something more proactive,” the actor clarifies. The director, Flore Vasseur, says in a video call that this is essential. As devastated or sad as audiences may be, he hopes “this film will spark a journey where everyone gets active again.”
When we look at nature we don’t see “us”, we see something separate. Regardless of who we are, what we do is bigger than ourselves because it concerns everyone
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez
This idea connects directly to the feelings of Romero, who has just filmed a documentary on rhino poaching in Zimbabwe. “I went with my partner and friend Álvaro Monge to do something that would contribute to the future and we found Daniel who just received an award for his fight for conservation. He’s from Barcelona but he’s been putting his own grain of sand in Africa for 20 years and I think we’ve been able to tell his story,” he says, although he refuses to give any further details. Vasseur clarifies, “The change can be in your immediate community, by getting involved in something in your community.”
Sitting on a rock surrounded by a toxic fog that doesn’t allow her to enjoy the sunset from Jakarta (Indonesia’s capital), Wijsen wonders: “Is that a reflection of what we’re doing with what’s happening to the world ?’ After an intense journey full of emotions that will sadden the public, they all come to the conclusion: ‘When we look at nature we don’t see ‘us’, we see something separate. No matter who we are, what we do is bigger than ourselves, because this is about everyone,” sums up Xiuhtezcatl Martínez.
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