Look out the window. What color is the sky today? Is it the beautiful blue that Utah’s National Parks are famous for? Is it that dark and slightly ominous color that comes before a good storm? Or is it the smoggy, gray air Utahans are so familiar with in winter?
According to Josh Fox, director of “How to Let Go of the World (and Love the Things Climate Can’t Change),” that grey color we are used to seeing, the one that doesn’t signal any kind of precipitation, is slowly killing us. It is part of a bigger problem happening all over the world, the one that goes by the misleading term “global warming.”
“No one is exempt … No one is outside of the range of what climate change can affect,” Fox said.
One of many Sundance documentaries this year, “How to Let Go of the World (and Love the Things Climate Can’t Change)” delves into the global security threat that is climate change by capturing Fox’s world travels, his efforts to understand the scope of Earth’s environmental problem and his interactions with people doing their best to put a stop to it.
Though the film starts with a celebratory dance-off, the rest of its tone is not particularly happy. Nor should it be — humankind’s massive upheaval of the planet is leading to depressingly large numbers of deaths, both human and animal, on a global scale. Fox emphasizes the vastness of the climate change problem throughout the movie, but he tempers this sense of doom by interviewing people who are making a difference. This includes people in Beijing, China, where the sky is always smoggy because of the many factories producing materials we use every day; in the Pacific Islands, where rising tides are encroaching on people’s homes; and in New York, where there was a threat of tsunamis after Hurricane Sandy.
At a whopping 125 minutes, “How to Let Go of the World” is definitely a little too long. Additionally, Fox occasionally seems to forget his role is to be a journalist and not a film star. But despite these deficiencies, the movie does a lot to educate its audience.
Following the film showing at Rose Wagner Theater, Fox, a few members of his production team and two individuals featured in his movie held a Q&A session. One of these guests was Tim DeChristopher, a Utah native who was imprisoned recently for bidding at a sale of public lands to oil and coal companies.
He explained one of his biggest motivators was outrage over believing oil companies felt no shame in harming the environment, brushing off any concerns with “that’s just business.”
“That’s not just business — that’s my life. That’s the life of everyone that I care about,” DeChristorpher said.
Fox concluded the session with a call to arms, telling students to engage in efforts to fight climate change however they could.
“There’s always an entrance point,” Fox said. “And for me, activism is always local.”
Ultimately, “How to Let Go of the World” is hopeful. The world is in dire straits, no doubt about it, but as Fox reveals, humans are resilient, creative and courageous.