Banking Nature
Banking Nature is a documentary that looks at the growing movement to monetize the natural world and to turn endangered species and threatened areas into instruments of profit.
| Banking Nature | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Denis Delestrac Sandrine Feydel |
| Directed by | Denis Delestrac Sandrine Feydel |
| Music by | Stéphane Lopez |
| Country of origin | France |
| Original language(s) | English French |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Via Découvertes |
| Editor(s) | Guillaume Quignard |
| Running time | 88 minutes |
| Production company(s) | ARTE France |
| Distributor | Java Films |
| Release | |
| Original release | February 3, 2015 |
Synopsis
That the climate is changing drastically and plant and animal species are dying out at a steady rate is an ominous reality. But one man’s global ecological disaster is another man’s economic opportunity. In recent years, nature conservation has become a flourishing business sector where huge sums of money change hands and endangered organisms are transformed into financial products. In the investigative documentary Banking Nature, Sandrine Feydel and Denis Delestrac delve into the wondrous world of green banking. Investors buy up the habitats of endangered species and then sell them in the form of shares. The pros and cons of these remarkable developments are examined through a riveting montage of breathtaking images of nature, reflective voice-overs and interviews with bankers, economists, activists and policymakers. According to renowned economist Pavan Sukhdev, nature can best be protected by sticking a price tag on it. Nonetheless, critical thinkers like Pablo Solon see this subjecting of nature to free market forces as a "license to kill" it. After all, such quantification of an endangered status makes it financially attractive to create ecological shortages. The term "green economy" may have an idealistic ring to it, but this too could just as easily collapse like a house of cards.
Interviews
- Pavan Sukhdev
- Pablo Solon
- Vandana Shiva
Festivals and awards
Official selections :
- UK Premiere au Frontline Club London 2015 (UK)
- Byron Bay Film Festival 2015 (india)
- Life Sciences Film festival 2015 (Czech Republic)
- Innsbruck Nature Film Festival 2015 (Austria)
- Ficma Latam 2015 (Mexico)
- CineEco Seia 2015 (Portugal)
- Environmental Film Festival Melbourne 2015 (Australia)
- Matsalu Nature Film Festival 2015 (Estonia)
- Filmambiente 2015 ( Brazil)
- Naturvision Film festival 2015 (Germany)
- GlobaLE Film Festival 2015 (Leipzig, Germany)
- DREFF 2015 / Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (Dominican Republic)
- 7th Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival 2015 (Malaysia)
- Festival de Namur 2015 (Belgium)
- FICMA Barcelona 2015 (Spain)
- Ahvaz International Science Film Festival 2015 (Iran)
- IX Ahmed Attia Award 2015
- IDFA Amsterdam 2015 (Holland)
- FIGRA, Festival international du grand reportage d'actualité et du documentaire de société - Catégorie « Autrement vu » 2016 (France)
- ZAGREBDOX Catégorie "Controversial Dox" 2016 (Croatie) http://zagrebdox.net/en/2016/news/controversial_dox_from_green_banking_and_alpine_nudism_to_jihadism_and_religious_kitsch
- Festival du film vert 2016 (Suisse romande & France) http://www.festivaldufilmvert.ch/fr/suisse-romande?_ga=1.9269436.805576054.1455208086
- Green Film Festival in Seoul, May 6–12, 2016 (Corée) http://greenfilmnet.org/festivals/gffis/
- 10th Edition of "Addis International Film Festival", May 4–10, 2016 (Ethiopie) - http://www.addisfilmfestival.org/
Awards :
- Winner of the Expo Milano 2015 Prize (Italia)
- Best Full Length Documentary - 8th Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Fest 2015 (Malaysia)
- Award of the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences - Life Sciences Film Festival Prague (Czech Republic)
- Grand Prize of the City of Innsbruck 2015 (Austria)
- Best International Feature Award - Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival of Toronto 2015 (Canada)
- Golden Sun - FICMA 2015 (Spain)
- Special Prize - "Emys Foundation" 2015 (Spain)
- Prize "Greenpeace" au festival du Film vert de Genève 2016 - FFV (Suisse)