Anthropocene: The Human Epoch

A stunning sensory experience and cinematic meditation on humanity's massive reengineering of the planet, the film is a years-in-the-making feature documentary from the award-winning team behind Manufactured Landscapes (2006), featuring the photography of Edward Burtynsky. This special nationwide one-night event is timed to coincide with the U.N. Climate Summit in New York with support from Art House Convergence.*

The film follows the research of an international body of scientists, the Anthropocene Working Group which, after nearly 10 years of research, argues that as a result of profound and lasting human changes to the Earth, the Holocene Epoch gave way in the mid-twentieth century to what they call the Anthropocene Epoch. From concrete seawalls in China that now cover 60% of the mainland coast, to the biggest terrestrial machines ever built in Germany, to psychedelic potash mines in Russia's Ural Mountains, to metal festivals in the closed city of Norilsk, to the devastated Great Barrier Reef in Australia and massive marble quarries in Carrara, the filmmakers have traversed the globe using state of the art camera techniques to document the evidence and experience of human planetary domination. At the intersection of art and science,  Anthropocene  makes the case that we are witnessing a critical moment in geological history—and brings a provocative and unforgettable experience of our species's breadth and impact.

Cornell professors Jenny Goldstein (Development Sociology), who this semester is teaching "Climate Change & Global Development: Living in the Anthropocene," and Andrew Moisey (Visual Studies), who this semester is teaching "Documentary Art," will facilitate an informal post-screening discussion.

*In conjunction with the national release of the film, Art House Convergence will launch SustainableArtHouse, a collaborative response to the global climate emergency. For the sake of our planet, future, and well-being, AHC encourages theaters everywhere to take steps to reduce waste and carbon emissions.

website: theanthropocene.org/film