“Racing Extinction” Screening + Q&A
Perspectives on Peace: Racing Extinction Screening + Q&A
November 23, 2015, 6:30pm | Milbank Chapel, Teachers College | Columbia University
Special chance to see this film one week before its global release! Discovery premieres Academy Award-Winner Louie Psihoyos’s Racing Extinction in more than 220 countries and territories around the world.
Synopsis of the film, RACING EXTINCTION-– Scientists predict that humanity’s footprint on the planet may cause the loss of 50% of all species by the end of the century. They believe we have entered the sixth major extinction in Earth’s history, following the fifth great extinction which took out the dinosaurs. Our era is called the Anthropocene, or “Age of Man,” because evidence shows that humanity has sparked a cataclysmic change of the world’s natural environment and animal life. Yet, we are the only ones who can stop the change we have created.
The Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS), the group behind the Academy Award® COVE, is back with the new groundbreaking documentary RACING EXTINCTION. Joined by new innovators, OPS brings a voice to the thousands of species teetering on the very edge of life.
This highly charged, impassioned collective of activists is out to expose the two major threats to endangered wild species across the globe. The first comes from the international wildlife trade, and the bogus medicinal cures and tonics that are marketed to the public at the expense of creatures who have survived on this planet for millions of years. The second threat is all around us, hiding in plain sight. It is a hidden world of carbon emissions and acidified oceans that are incompatible with existing animal life. It is a world, revealed with state-of-the-art photographic technology, that oil and gas companies don’t want us to see.
Director Louie Psihoyos has crafted an ambitious mission to clearly and artfully pull into focus our impact on the planet, while inspiring us all to embrace the solutions that will ensure a thriving, biodiverse world for future generations.
“With this project, I want to tackle the most important problem the world has ever faced, the epic loss of biodiversity. By combining a compelling film and a groundbreaking activation campaign, we want to create a movement for change.”
-Director, Louie Psihoyos
For information about the campaign against species extinction, visit: www.racingextinction.com and #StartWith1Thing