Surviving Progress (2011)

Humanity's ascent is often measured by the speed of progress. But what if progress is actually spiraling us downwards, towards collapse? Ronald Wright, whose best-seller, A Short History Of... See full summary »

Directors:

Mathieu Roy, Harold Crooks

Writers:

Harold Crooks, Mathieu Roy

Stars:

Ronald Wright, Mark Levine, Robert Wright

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ronald Wright	...	Himself - Author, A Short History of Progress
Mark Levine	...	Himself - Group Leader, China Energy Group
Robert Wright	...	Himself - Author, Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny
Marina Silva	...	Herself - Former Minister of the Environment, Brazil
Kambale Musavuli	...	Himself - Friends of the Congo
Vaclav Smil	...	Himself - Population Scientist & Author, Global Catastrophies and Trends
Colin Beavan	...	Himself - Engineer & Author
Michael Hudson	...	Himself - Economic Historian & Former Wall Street Economist
Jane Goodall	...	Herself - Primatologist
Ming Chen	...	Himself - Self Driving Club Tour Guide
Changnian Chen	...	Himself - Professor & Chen Ming's Father
J. Craig Venter	...	Himself - Biologist & CEO Synthetic Genomics
Raquel Taitson-Queiroz	...	Herself - Environmental Police Officer, IBAMA
Gary Marcus	...	Himself - Cognitive Psychologist & Author, The Birth of the Mind
Daniel Povinelli	...	Himself - Behavioral Scientist

Storyline

Humanity's ascent is often measured by the speed of progress. But what if progress is actually spiraling us downwards, towards collapse? Ronald Wright, whose best-seller, A Short History Of Progress inspired SURVIVING PROGRESS, shows how past civilizations were destroyed by "progress traps" - alluring technologies and belief systems that serve immediate needs, but ransom the future. As pressure on the world's resources accelerates and financial elites bankrupt nations, can our globally-entwined civilization escape a final, catastrophic progress trap? With potent images and illuminating insights from thinkers who have probed our genes, our brains, and our social behaviour, this requiem to progress-as-usual also poses a challenge: to prove that making apes smarter isn't an evolutionary dead-end.

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Plot Keywords:

environmental | chimpanzee | deforestation | economy | brazil | 

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Taglines:

Every time history repeats itself, the price goes up

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [jp]

Country:

Canada

Language:

English Portuguese

Release Date:

23 March 2013 (Japan)

Also Known As:

A Short History of Progress

Filming Locations:

Bay Area, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$4,161 (USA) (6 April 2012)

Gross:

$47,139 (USA) (22 June 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Big Picture Media Corporation, Cinémaginaire Inc., National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

Boring – such a shame

The basic content has it right on the money. Or at least, I share similar views as were portrayed in this documentary.

Unfortunately the documentary was made in a formulaic way. Cut and paste archival video, talking heads, animal behaviour – and the most irritating soundtrack imaginable.

There was an irony that the amount of distracting video footage used and the glossy sheen to the presentation method (well groomed and moisturised faces, perfectly framed and preaching) was more like the very superficiality the documentary claimed to be railing against.

In summary it did a little job of stating the problem though the impact of the documentary will be negligible. Those who couldn't care less will continue not to. Those who do care learnt little new.

And let's face it - heading in to space will not be a solution for the masses. Perhaps a change in climate (either man-induced or one of the natural ones) will cause a substantial reduction in life – and allow the planet a breather before we start it all over again. There was nothing in the doco to suggest otherwise.