Film

The Sequel

What will follow our troubled civilisation?

THE SEQUEL shines a light on the work and legacy of David Fleming, a historian, economist, and ecologist with a deep understanding of how we got where we are, and a compelling vision of how we can recover what we have lost as the market economy has worked its way into every aspect of our lives.

BAFTA-winning director Peter Armstrong guides us to encounter extraordinary people and projects from four continents that are cultivating a resilience not reliant on the impossible promise of eternal economic growth:
renegade economist Kate Raworth, conservative philosopher Roger Scruton, Gaian ecologist Stephan Harding, localization revolutionary Helena Norberg-Hodge, inspirational practivist and Transition Network founder Rob Hopkins, eco-pioneer Jonathon Porritt and philanthropist/composer Peter Buffett, among many others.

As we discover, all were inspired by a work of rare depth that is rekindling optimism in the creativity and intelligence of humans to nurse our communities and ecology back to health: Fleming’s posthumously published lifework, ‘Lean Logic: A Dictionary for the Future and How to Survive It.’

The Sequel recognizes the fundamentally unsustainable nature of today’s society and dares to ask the big question: What will follow?

Director: Peter Armstrong
Narrator: Helen Atkinson Wood
Starring: Kate Raworth, Roger Scruton, Stephan Harding, Shaun Chamberlin, Rob Hopkins, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Jonathon Porritt, Peter Buffett
Release: March 2020
Duration: 60 minutes
Subtitled: English, Portuguese, Spanish
Global distributors: Bullfrog Films

 

The Sequel tasters

Now viewed over five million times, these tasters were the first spur to the film’s impact:

Reviews

If you are even peripherally aware of the multitude of environmental crises we face,
it is difficult to avoid despair.

The Sequel is an essential introduction to David Fleming’s work that can help us all imagine, as he did, the beauty and potential of ‘the seed beneath the snow.’

Without ignoring the seriousness of the crises, Fleming’s work demonstrates that through imagination, art, culture, ritual, and joy, there is a way forward.

And that way forward won’t be a sacrifice, but rather a reestablishment of the very communities, rituals, and practices we have lost in modernity, that before this moment have always given human life its meaning.

Dr. David Thomas Sumner,
Professor of English and Environmental Studies, Linfield College

 

I highly recommend The Sequel…Through two decades of work on climate issues, I’ve come to appreciate that our challenges are less political and technological than we imagine them to be. Rather, our core challenges are relational and social – of how we can come to understand ourselves as connected to community across scales from local to global.

The Sequel is an inspirational and particularly useful touchstone for those thinking about and seeking to secure a just, sustainable and resilient future for all.

Steve Adams, Director of Urban Resilience,
Institute for Sustainable Communities

 

The Sequel is part biography on David Fleming, part alarm about the coming crisis of the market economy, but most importantly a how-to for our communities, for ourselves, for you and me to re-envision and recreate our homes and communities.

Rather than merely examining the fissures in our global wellbeing, this movie teaches us a way forward, a way to repair together, a communal way home.

Sean Prentiss, Associate Professor of English, Norwich University,
Author of Finding Abbey: The Search for Edward Abbey and His Hidden Desert Grave

 

The Sequel explores the work of environmental economist David Fleming and the vibrant Transition Movement his ideas inspired. This film is a valuable supplement for college courses and local groups reading Fleming’s work.

Reminding us that our post-industrial socioeconomic systems are finite and that other ways of living are not only possible but inevitable, The Sequel is a sure catalyst to discussion and action.

Dr. Anna J. Willow, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Ohio State University

 

 

The late English historian and ecological theorist David Fleming argues that global capitalism’s need for constant consumption and growth is destroying the world – it consumes too many resources, spews out too many wastes, and pushes too many people into poverty and despair.

Fleming thinks climate change will trigger what he calls ‘climacteric collapse’ of large-scale societies. This unfolding collapse offers the possibility of a counter-cultural renaissance if we transition to more locally-oriented and nature-focused ways of life.

James William Gibson, Professor of Sociology, California State University,
Author of A Reenchanted World: The Quest for a New Kinship With Nature

 

 

A loving reflection on the life and philosophy of David Fleming… [and] a helpful reminder that alternatives exist all around us.

Fleming knew that healthy human societies and healthy relationships to the non-human world required intentional community building acts. Grow a garden, get involved in local politics, share tools with your neighbor, fix what’s broken and buy less stuff.

This is an inspirational film for audiences of all ages.

Dr. Kent ‘Kip’ Curtis, Associate Professor of Environmental History,
Ohio State University

 

 

Highly suggested – Spread the word of David Fleming and use The Sequel in your classroom!

If you want to join people like Arne Næss, Herman Daly and Brian Czech, watch this movie and implement its lessons to “fall in love with the Earth”.

Falk Huettmann, Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology,
University of Alaska Fairbanks

 

 

To combat what Fleming saw as the inevitable collapse of the current growth-dependent economy, the documentary explains his strategy of transformation through the localization of food production and self-reliant cooperative communities…

A cautionary but optimistic assessment of the future.

Lawrence Maxted, Library Journal

 

An excellent documentary tribute with wings, that takes us to local food movements, repair cafés, and community celebrations to liven up The Sequel to the biophysical impossibility of endless growth.

This film will awaken the intellect to harmonize with earth’s systems…

We find a treasure trove of ecological and humanitarian analysis and practices that call upon our higher selves to work for the good of all life.

Jim Merkel, Director, Global Living Project, Author of Radical Simplicity: Small Footprints on a Finite Earth, Director of Saving Walden’s World

 

 

Watching The Sequel I could not stop thinking about the preoccupations and fears expressed by young people across the world regarding the effects climate change might have on their future. They demand action.

A timely film… In our present moment, we need to start imagining alternative futures. The Sequel certainly contributes to this.

 

Maria Antonieta Guzman-Gallegos, Public Anthropologist Journal

Global Peace Film Festival laurel

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