The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (2006)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Faith Morgan

Writers:

Faith Morgan (writer)
Eugene 'Pat' Murphy (writer)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

The documentary, "The Power of Community - How Cuba Survived Peak Oil," was inspired when Faith Morgan...

Cast

Bruce Cromer	...	Narrator
Jorge Mario	...	Himself
Rachel Bruhnke	...	Herself
Eugene 'Pat' Murphy	...	Himself
Megan Quinn	...	Herself
Matthew Simmons	...	Himself
Richard Heinberg	...	Himself
Miguel Coyula	...	Himself
Roberto Perez	...	Himself
Rita Pereira	...	Herself
Miguel Salcines	...	Himself
Carmen Cabrera	...	Herself
Patricia Allison	...	Herself
Nelson Aguila	...	Himself
Nancy Gabrera	...	Herself

Runtime:

53 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Cuba

Company:

AlchemyHouse Productions Inc.

Movie Connections:

Follows The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream (2004)

Soundtrack:

Elegía Al Che Guevara

A lesson in sustainability for backwards oil dependent countries.

This film is for you if you are already convinced of peak/oil and climate change and prefer practical solutions from real-life, large-scale examples.

This is simply the most inspiring film I have seen. It shows clearly how an oil dependent country can make the transition to life without oil. Cuba rediscovered living sustainably when the Soviet Union could no longer supply oil to it. Over three years Cubans lost a few pounds (most of them could afford to as the film points out!) as they couldn't transport food very far. Forced to grow organically (due to no petrochemical fertilisers) it took this three year period for their soil to recover from the hammering it had taken. But they emerged a resilient, self sufficient nation after this period of adjustment.

Cuba faced lack of oil early but is much the better for it. Every country will have to go through it someday and if the climate isn't going to get wrecked that day needs to be sooner rather than later. See this film, pass it on to your politician! This is a positive film and I found it utterly refreshing after the barrage of doom-laden messages about the state of the world today. It made me put extra time in to my allotment!