Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth
Interview with former Vice President Al Gore
Former Vice President Al Gore likes to joke and says that the election campaign continues. But the messages given out so eloquently in “An Inconvenient Truth” cannot be more serious. The campaign is to warn the world of the imminent dangers of global warming and environmental disasters that we face. The documentary is based on an actual photo by Al Gore in the course of many years.
Directed by Davis Guggenheim, An Inconvenient Truth is a fascinating analysis of why the environmental issues came to drive to Al Gore, in addition to a tally accessible, funny, poignant and alarming dangers threaten the planet and what we can do to solve them.
This interview was conducted during the Cannes Film Festival, where An Inconvenient Truth received very favorable reviews.
An Inconvenient Truth premieres in Spain on November 3rd.
Q: One of the themes of the film is that this is a moral issue and not political. Was that the most important message?
A: Yes, all these issues must be re-framed and understood from a moral perspective. Over the past 100 years, world population has quadrupled. We have increased one hundred times the power of our technologies. This combination has dramatically transformed the relationship between humanity and the Earth. Now we can have a destructive impact on the ecological system around the planet. At present we are the largest force of nature and we must take into account how we relate to the environment.
Q: Why a movie and not, maybe, a TV series?
A: The film is the easier media to tell a story. I think it's an action movie because it moves the audience to take action and I especially like to check here in Cannes, with the first international, that the public is no different than American. As in America, there is no difference between how Democrats and Republicans see the movie. And that is very rewarding and I hope it happens everywhere the same, because as I said, this is not a political issue in my view, but rather moral. We only have one planet and we all share the same future therefore, it is not surprising that all respond to this message in the same way.
Q: One of the things I liked about the film is that it shows some of the things that have formed you as a man and as a politician. Did you have any reservations at the time for personal things?
A: I'd like to do when I was doing and did not expect the film to have very personal things. I think it was a good idea that the director did not speak to me until these issues are not won my trust and respect. From that moment I knew that everything was going to deal in the most sensible way. He explained his reasons. And what I said was that the photo has much impact on the audience they have in front of a real life person, even my own (laughs), they are seeing. But on the screen, it does not happen automatically, but must be created. Davis said that for the audience connecting with the person they have on display, it must have a narrative. He explained it so that I understood and was able to overcome my reticence and could see the way it has done each of the vignettes supports and introduces the narrative in the photo. Frankly, I think he has done a great job. We also did a good job with the interviews because they were endless hours. Sometimes, not satisfied with the answers I gave to similar questions and find more and more to the point of me to express things that never before had words. And get the freshness and power of these cartoons because they are new for me and it pays tribute as an interviewer.
Q: Do you have any eco appliance at home?
A: Well we have a hybrid car and the bulbs in the house. We use thermostats and have done everything we recommend in the film. Besides a couple of years ago we decided to try to neutralize the carbon emissions not only reducing consumption but also by buying emissions to reduce the volume of carbon dioxide from other places and we offset the inevitable issue. The process of film production, promotion, distribution and publicity tour has been conducted in an absolutely organic. The book to be published next week will be the first book to neutralize carbon emissions. 100 percent of the profits and the film go for an educational campaign devoted to non-profit, bipartisan, to spread the message about the climate crisis. And at the end of the summer will start a training program for to 1,000 people to the presentation of photos, regularly each week to provide more information through the Internet so it will be hundreds of people traveling around the world by giving our photo every night.