Nobelity (2006)

Director:

Turk Pipkin

Writer (WGA):

Turk Pipkin (written by)

Release Date:

20 March 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A look at the future and how to solve global problems such as poverty and the environmental degradation through a series of interviews with Nobel Prize winners. |

Plot Keywords:

Nobel Prize Winner | Nobel Prize

Cast

Wangari Maathai
Turk Pipkin
Joseph Rotblat
Amartya Sen
Richard Smalley
Desmond Tutu
Harold Varmus
Steven Weinberg
Jody Williams
Ahmed Zewail

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

501audio

Building a More Hopeful World

I had the honor of attending the world premiere of this beautiful film at the Paramount Theatre during the SXSW film festival in Austin, TX. Turk Pipkin has created a beautiful and deeply personal film about the state of our world today. The film is built around interviews with 9 Nobel Laureates (two of whom have sadly passed away since their interviews were filmed) in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Economics and Peace (although unfortunately, no literature Laureates). The film serves and an introduction and a wake-up call about the many problems that confront our planet - war and violence, energy, disease, poverty, environmental degradation among others. The film is beautifully edited.

Of course, the no film can offer complete answers to such complex problems. The problems are complicated and interrelated and solutions require political will that seems to be missing in much of the world today - and especially in the United States. But it offers several things our society seems desperately short of today.

First, Nobelity offers us the wisdom of some brilliant minds reflecting on important issues. In an era of fast food talking heads, their thoughtful views and ideas are well worth hearing and reflecting on. Second, it offers us hope. In a time when Americans in particular have become understandably jaded, cynical, despairing and frustrated, Nobelity is an optimistic film. It suggests that the problems confronting our planet an be overcome through reason, cooperation, and hard work. None of the solutions are simple, but neither are they hopeless.

You may not agree with every viewpoint expressed in Nobelity, but its an opportunity to get people thinking and get them talking. Pipkin has done us all a service with through his noble effort and for that we should all be grateful.