A captivating dialogue between two brothers, Oscar winning film director and President of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival jury, Alfonso Cuarón and renowned environmental scientist Alfredo Cuarón set the scene not only for a fascinating series of events on how to increase sustainability within the film industry, but also for a whole new perspective on how we might solve the climate communication challenge.

The Film4Climate One-on-One discussion between the Cuarón brothers was facilitated by renowend film producer Donald Ranvaud, who emphasized the need for urgent climate action and that all individuals within their respective industries should get involved in advancing ambitious climate action. The discussion was followed by a roundtable dialogue on the role of film for sustainability facilitated by Green Cross Italy, and later in the evening the Green Drop Award was presented to the film market at the Venice International Film Festival.

Alfonso Cuarón emphasized the need for an economic transformation - Photo Credit: Max Edkins/Connect4Climate

“We’re about to live another Copernican revolution - a unique change. It’s about empowering the next generation - we don’t have the solutions. We’re doing all we can with the knowledge we have, but the next generation will have different platforms to work from - they will be the ones to create new economic models” - Alfonso Cuarón.

The two brothers were in agreement that climate change must be tackled by each of us in our daily lives. But we cannot stop there, we have to go further.

For Alfonso, this means changing completely our economic model and establishing a new one. For Alfredo, who has worked for over 30 years with communities in rural Mexico, it means understanding our environment as a living, fragile and complex system, and making sure we work hard to respect the interconnectivity of all living things.

Alfredo Cuarón highlighted the links between environmental and social impacts - Photo credit: Max Edkins/Connect4Climate

“We must remember that environmental impact eventually has a social impact. What happens to our forests and rivers, for example, inevitably affects people as well” – Alfredo Cuarón.

Both Alfonso and Alfredo agreed that the film industry can set an example by establishing sustainable guidelines for production and they stirred the capacity audience with tales of both concern and lack of concern for the environment within the industry. Reflecting on how productions could also integrate the issues into scripts, they both welcomed the possibility, but Alfonso reminded everyone that the creative process relies on artistic inspiration to tell impactful stories. He also railed against some disaster films that are jumping on the bandwagon of climate change with little substance.

Alfonso Cuarón answers a question presented by Donald Ranvaud (right) - Photo credit: Max Edkins/Connect4Climate

“What is going on in film production when it illustrates the apocalyptic world is akin to pornography with little understanding of the science involved. Films such as these can have very negative effects” - Alfonso Cuarón.