Planting Earth Week (Short)
Brian Ryu’s short documentary (which is linked to at the picture rather than a trailer or clip) shows just one portion of the fight for climate change awareness, in the actions of Karlos Edmonds, who is attempting to stage a massive, historic protest on May 1, 2020 that involves planting trees in Central Park. Of course, with the onset of mass shutdowns due to COVID-19, those plans were cancelled, so Edmonds is hoping to get people to plant trees in their own yards, as a show for solidarity.
“Planting Earth Week” has a very clear agenda, as it is designed to promote awareness of Edmonds’s particular movement, and his part of the fight to get the world to pay attention to the dire situation we have created for ourselves with man-made climate change. One of the short’s strengths is how honest Edmonds is with the viewer- he knows what he, personally, is risking in terms of possible (and definite) arrests, and how that will impact his family. He and others involved with the protests shown in the film are aware of how annoying their particular tactics are, but no other ones have worked. Will these? One of the onlookers caught talking to a protester gives us the harsh reality of how it doesn’t.
For what it is- which is, essentially, propaganda to promote a particular event or viewpoint- Ryu does a fine job. As an objective document of events, it’s fair; I think someone looking at this film with an objective vantage point can be appreciative of the passion on the part of Edmonds and his fellow activists while also being able to understand why their methods are an annoyance. Will the film bring about needed action? Probably not- the sad truth is that too few of the people who could enact genuine change take the situation seriously enough, or are too beholden to corporations who don’t want to set aside immediate profits for long-term goals. This is about raising awareness, though, and maybe inspiring people to act in their own ways to help the cause. The event Edmonds was planning was cancelled for good reason, but that doesn’t mean we cannot do our part.
