Happy May Day to everyone! We’ll be out and about with the film again this month; so if there’s a screening near you, make sure you come along – everyone welcome, so spread the word and bring your friends and family too.

More dates will be added here as and when we have confirmed them, so keep checking back for the latest information! For a regularly updated list of all our upcoming events for May 2012 and beyond, visit our Screenings page.

3rd May – New Cross and Deptford Free Film Festival:

Sanford Housing Co-Op, Sanford Walk, New Cross, SE14 6NB (off Sanford Street/Cold Blow Lane) at 8pm – FREE!

Map: Here

10th May – Grow Heathrow:

Vineries Close, Sipson, West Drayton, UB7 0JG at 8pm – FREE! (Donations welcome)

Map: Here

25th May – Crossroads Festival, Austria:

Forum Stadtpark, Stadtpark 1, 8010 Graz, Austria at 9pm

Map: Here

30th May – Transition Chelmsford/Altogether Now:

Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford Campus, Bishop Hall Lane, Chelmsford, CM1 1SQ at 7pm – FREE!

Please email rachel.moss@anglia.ac.uk or telephone Rachel on 0845 196 4723 to book and for more info on this screening.

Map: Here

30th May – International Human Rights Film Festival, Argentina:

ROJAS Cultural Center, Buenos Aires, Argentina at 10pm

For more information about this festival (in Spanish), please visit their website.

If you’re interested in putting on a screening of The Crisis of Civilization in your area, we’d love to hear from you! You can find out more about what’s involved in screening the film here, and get in touch with us on our Contact page for further information. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Author: Dr. Nafeez Ahmed

The brazen terrorist assault on Kabul on April 16 was the biggest attack on the Afghan capitalin the last decade. For some 18 hours, strategically perched Taliban militants linked to the Haqqani network fired on government buildings, embassies, and foreign military bases. A total of 51 people died, including 36 militants. Some 74 were wounded in Kabul along with three neighboring provinces where government and military targets came under synchronized attack.

As evidence has mounted that the militants were trained and equipped across the border in Pakistan — where the Haqqani network has its core strongholds — questions have emerged over U.S.-Pakistani efforts to repair their already strained relations. U.S. intelligence officials have frequently accused the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of supporting the rebel network’s operations in Afghanistan.

Monday’s attacks followed hot on the heels of a unanimously approved Pakistani parliamentary resolution calling for specific conditions on security cooperation with U.S. agencies. The sweeping demands include an end to drone strikes in Pakistan, cessation of all unilateral overt and covert U.S. incursions, a ban on U.S. intelligence operations, an indefinite suspension of visas to private U.S. security contractors, and an unconditional U.S. apology for NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last November.

How many of these conditions, if any, the United States would be willing to accept is unclear, although U.S. officials have taken pains to indicate their eagerness to renew relations. So far, rather than pointing fingers, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed the need for “shared responsibility for robust action” — which only underscores how critical the United States considers cooperation with Pakistan to be for regional security.

Missing the Point

Indeed, the Taliban’s success in carrying out these attacks at such a sensitive time highlights the urgency of the Pakistan problem, particularly as NATO prepares for the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops by 2014. Yet so far the international debate has focused inordinately on troop numbers in Afghanistan, rather than on the underlying social, economic, and political conditions that cultivate radicalization.

This mistaken focus characterizes the whole nature of the international approach to the region, which has alienated large sectors of local populations with its overemphasis on militarization. As acknowledged in a report last year by the UK parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, the NATO surge has “created more insecurity and led to more civilian casualties.”

In Pakistan, particularly in the rebel sanctuaries in the northern frontier provinces, the drone attacks have had a similar effect, angering locals and driving civilians into the arms of militants. As Daniel Bryman of the Brookings Institution observes, the ratio of combatants to civilians killed by the drone strikes is about 10 to one. A far longer-term game, he argues, is needed.

Intractable as the crisis may appear, long-term solutions do exist. One of the most effective in Pakistan is the Rural Support Programs Network (RSPN). As Pakistan’s largest NGO, the RSPN has run quietly for nearly 30 years, with a staggering success rate. It has mobilized over 4 million Pakistani households through local community organizations, provided skills training to nearly 3 million, and reached approximately 30 million people with its work.

The secret of the RSPN’s success is deceptively simple. The poor are mobilized to establish local community organizations where citizens are involved in every aspect of decision-making — designing and selecting projects, managing them, and monitoring expenditures. The program thus empowers villagers to see themselves as citizens with the skills, tools, and acumen to work together in managing the disbursement of government funds to lift themselves out of poverty.

In the northwest frontier province of Chitral, for instance, local micro-scale hydroelectricity projects now supply power to over half the population. Elsewhere, RSPN has empowered locals to establish 1,449 community schools, whose pupils out-perform their peers from government schools, and enrolled 681,000 women in community activism — the largest outreach to poor rural women of any Pakistani organisation. In the areas where RSPN projects are consolidated, militancy is non-existent,  simply because local communities are actively engaged in their own development. Rather than requiring external force to police such communities, local civil cociety organizations (CSOs), established with the support of the RSPN, act as a bulwark against those calling for violence.

Real Resilience

Despite resounding endorsements from independent evaluations commissioned by a range of agencies such as the World Bank and the UK Department for International Development, the RSPN has seen its levels of international aid slashed in recent years, — precisely when this sort of pioneering rural development ought to be scaled up across both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Currently, development aid is a tiny fraction of what the United States and NATO spend in the AfPak region, which is overwhelmingly dominated by military expenditures.

As the countdown to the Afghan withdrawal continues, the U.S. and UK governments should learn the lessons of imperial hubris. If we truly want stability in the region, we must draw on proven models like that of RSPN, which empower civil society from the ground up. Paradoxically, our obsession with security has undermined itself. We need to focus more on building the capacity of communities to empower themselves. This is the only way, in the long-term, to create real resilience to radicalization.

The festival describes its overarching aim as working towards “a change in our relationship with the planet, the beings with whom we coexist with, its natural resources and among ourselves”. The organisers see film as an important part of this aim; noting that it can be used “as a vehicle of transformation, as a promoter of a culture oriented towards environmental conservation”.

With that in mind, this year’s festival features:

[M]ore than 40 national and international titles that explore different perspectives, divided into six different sections ranging from documentary to fiction, from animation to [the] experimental field.

And this includes three screenings of The Crisis of Civilization! If you’re going to be at the Cinema Planeta festival, you can see the film on these dates:

Thursday 19th April: Sala Gabriel Figueroa, Cine Morelos at 4pm

Saturday 21st April: Sala 1, Cinemex Diana at 8pm

Sunday 22nd April: Sala Gabriel Figueroa, Cine Morelos at 1pm

Now that Spring has sprung and everyone is feeling the urge to get out and do things after a long, dark winter, may we suggest that you profitably fill a few hours of your time by coming along and checking out one of these exciting new screenings of The Crisis of Civilization…?

More dates will be added here as and when we have confirmed them, so keep checking back for the latest information! For a regularly updated list of all our upcoming events for April 2012 and beyond, visit our Screenings page.

3rd April- Transition Bethnal Green:

The Gallery Cafe Chapel Cinema, 21 Old Ford Road, London, E2 9PL at 7pm

Map: Here

11th April – Transition Wrington:

Wrington Sports and Social Club, Silver Street, Wrington, BS40 5QN at 7.30pm

For more information on this screening, please email transition@gmx.com

Map: Here

13th April – Sustainable Bungay/Waveney Greenpeace:

Bacon’s Farm, St Michael South Elmham, NR35 1NF at 7.30pm

Map: Here

19th April – Cinema Planeta Festival:

Morelos Cinemas, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico at 4pm

For more information on this screening, please visit the Cinema Planeta website (in Spanish).

21st April – Cinema Planeta Festival:

Cinemex Diana, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico at 8pm

For more information on this screening, please visit the Cinema Planeta website (in Spanish).

22nd April – Cinema Planeta Festival:

Morelos Cinemas, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico at 1pm

For more information on this screening, please visit the Cinema Planeta website (in Spanish).

22nd April – Ealing Transition:

St Mary’s Church, St Mary’s Road, Ealing, London, W5 5RH at 7.30pm – FREE!

Map: Here

24th April – Camberwell College of Art:

The Bar Lecture Theatre, Camberwell College of Art, 45-65 Peckham Road, London, SE5 8UF at 5.15pm (+Q&A)

Map: Here

24th April – Oslo, Norway:

Oslo Dokumentarkino, Litteraturhuset, Oslo, Norway at 7pm

For more information on this screening, please visit the Oslo Dokumentarkino website (in Norwegian)

25th April – Leeds University:

Bains Wing SR (2.37) (behind Parkinson), University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT at 4pm

Map: Here

27th April – Ventnor Library, Isle of Wight:

Ventnor Library, High Street, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, PO38 1LZ at 7.30pm

Map: Here

If you’re interested in putting on a screening of The Crisis of Civilization in your area, we’d love to hear from you! You can find out more about what’s involved in screening the film here, and get in touch with us on our Contact page for further information. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Link TV is available in all 50 US states (more info here), so there’s no excuse! You can see The Crisis of Civilization at these times:

Friday 30th March: 11.30pm (Pacific)/12.30 am (Mountain)/1.30am (Central)/2.30am (Eastern)

Saturday 31st March: 2.30pm (Pacific)/3.30pm (Mountain)/4.3opm (Central)/5.30pm (Eastern)

Sunday 1st April: 6am (Pacific)/7am (Mountain)/8am (Central)/9am (Eastern)

If you missed those, you can now see The Crisis of Civilization again on Link TV at these times next week:

Monday 9th April: 4am (Pacific)/5am (Mountain)/6am (Central)/7am (Eastern)

Monday 9th April: 1.30pm (Pacific)/2.30pm (Mountain)/3.30pm (Central)/4.30pm (Eastern)

Wednesday 11th April: 9am (Pacific)/10am (Mountain)/11am (Central)/12pm (Eastern)

Wednesday 11th April: 10pm (Pacific)/11pm (Mountain)

Thursday 12th April: 12am (Central)/1am (Eastern)

Thursday 12th April: 1.30am (Pacific)/2.30am (Mountain)/3.30am (Central)/4.30am (Eastern)

Friday 13th April: 12pm (Pacific)/1pm (Mountain)/2pm (Central)/3pm (Eastern)

Saturday 14th April: 4.30am (Pacific)/5.30am (Mountain)/6.30am (Central)/7.30am (Eastern)

Plus, right now you can also get your hands on a Crisis of Civilization gift pack (including the DVD) if you can donate $200 to help Link TV raise money towards their running costs.

For those of you who aren’t in the US (or even if you are), you can still watch The Crisis of Civilization at any time right here on our website!

Crisis of Civilization Podcast 2-AAC 80bps – Right click to download & listen to the podcast.

Dean Puckett and Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed discuss population and why it isn’t a main focus in the film, have an in-depth chat about Climate Skepticism and dissect KONY 2012 – Enjoy !

We will be recording another chat again soon so if you have any questions for Nafeez or topic suggestions please write them in the comments section below or through the normal social media channels.

With no $35 million to spend on advertising (this was the average for mainstream films the last time the MPAA reported the figure in 2006), we’ve had to do things our own way. This has included both clandestine and conspicuous activities…. subvertising, slipping our flyers into publications, and you might have seen those stickers popping up around London, or the black and white poster?

And also much internet blogging, pestering, publicising, of course.

 We wish we could be everywhere doing this, and in some ways we can be because you can get involved! Now we’re not suggesting anyone gets in any trouble but being creative can get the message out there in some very effective ways…..

1. Real world community marketing

Here are a couple of images which you might want to use to spread it around in your local area. For example printing some of these images and sticking them around your town or university or school could be very effective. Click them to enlarge and download.

2. Facebook

Why not use this on your website or as your Facebook banner! Also link to our Watch page.

Another effective option is to upload one of these pictures to your account and tag all of the friends that you would like to see it!

3. Twitter

If you use Twitter why not tweet at some of these organisations and ask them to talk about us – it sounds much better coming from you!

Copy and paste this:

“I really think you guys should #watchthecrisisfilm http://crisisofcivilization.com/watch/ “

and send it to…

@GreenpeaceUK  @greenpeaceusa

@thenation   @occupywallst  @guardiannews  @guardianfilm @guardian  @guardianeco

@TheIndyNews  ‏ @democracynow @IndyPolitics ‏ @NewStatesman @grist @MMFlint (Michael Moore) @YouTube

@Vimeo @WWF @STWuk (Stop the War) @TheEconomist @NaomiAKlein

There are also many more, so  just get on Twitter and start pestering!

4. Get the DVD & Put on a screening !

Remember, there are loads of people that don’t watch films online despite what we might think living in our cyber bubbles! So why not purchase our DVD to support us and get this information out the people who wouldn’t normally come across it, like your Grandparents or your Mum and Dad?

If you could take the time to do one or all of these things then you will officially become a Danger Dodger!

“Being aware means knowing the dangers that surround us, and being alert involves planning ahead to avoid those dangers”

AWARE ALERT ALIVE!

Wednesday March 14th 2012. 7pm UK time 

We are proud to announce that The Crisis of Civilization will be available on DVD or to watch online from Wednesday March 14th 2012. You’ll be able to watch and download the film for free, and buy the DVD (from the website or from Amazon) with loads of lovely extras for you to get your teeth into.

“a film which offers a glimmer of hope to the overwhelmed.” – Little White Lies

The DVD will be available in both PAL and NTSC formats, comes in 100% recycled packaging (of course!), and includes over an hour of bonus material, deleted scenes, remix films, and additional interview footage.

Also including subtitles in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Swedish and Chinese!

“A unique film. Everyone should see it.”  – Nick Broomfield

Finally, you’ll have the chance to show the film to your friends and family or put on a screening in your community whenever you want – and help us to get the message out there to as many people as possible!

So put the date in your diary, forward this to your friends, blog about it and help spread the word because THE CRISIS OF CIVILIZATION is breaking loose!
Read a review of the DVD over at LITTLE WHITE LIES (leading UK independent film magazine)

Category: Land and Resources.

On March 1st 2010 I had the pleasure of  filming Transition Heathrow members swoop on an abandoned market garden site in Sipson; one of the villages to be completely tarmacked to make way for a third runway at Heathrow.

Two years later I returned to the site, which has been transformed from a derelict mess into a beacon of community strength and a great example of how to live sustainably on this planet.

I have made an unashamedly positive film about the project.

The site is a hub for local residents and environmental activists to share knowledge and practical skills such as organic gardening, permaculture design, bicycle maintenance and wood and metal work. Over the last two years the site has played host to a wide range of political gatherings for groups such as: Climate Camp, Reclaim the Fields, The Transition Network, No Tar Sands Network, The Kick Nuclear Campaign, PEDAL and many more.

Keep Grow Heathrow Alive!!

Grow Heathrow is under threat of eviction and will be appearing at Central London County Court on 18th & 19th June 2012

Find out more
Sign the petition
Photo campaign

More dates will be added here as and when we have confirmed them, so keep checking back for the latest information! For a regularly updated list of all our upcoming events for March 2012 and beyond, visit our Screenings page.

3rd March – Transition Brentford:

The Docking Station, 108 High Street, Brentford, Middlesex, TW8 8AT at 7.15pm – FREE!

Map: Here

5th March – Clare College, Cambridge:

Riley Auditorium, Memorial Court, Clare College, Trinity Lane, Cambridge, CB3 9AJ at 8pm

Map: Here

9th March – Change4Chalfont:

Parish Church Hall, Church Lane, Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, SL9 at 8pm – FREE!

Map: Here

10th March – University of Toronto, Canada:

OISE Auditorium, 252 Bloor Street West (near St. George subway station), Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 7pm

Map: Here

12th March – Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre:

Sheepdrove Organic Farm, Sheepdrove Road, Lambourn, Berkshire, RG17 7UU at 6.30pm – FREE!

Map: Here

18th March – JUST West Yorkshire:

Events Pod, Culture Fusion (Opposite WOW Academy), 125 Thornton Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD1 2EP at 12-4pm – FREE!

Advance booking necessary for this screening, open to 13-25 year olds only. More details here.

Map: Here

22nd March – Graduate Union, Cambridge:

Graduate Union, Mill Lane, Cambridge, CB2 at 8.30pm

Map: Here

23rd March – Badhuistheater, Amsterdam:

Boerhaaveplein 28, 1091, Amsterdam, The Netherlands at 8.30pm – FREE!

Map: Here

26th March – Great Western Studios:

65 Alfred Road, London, W2 5EU at 6.15pm

Map: Here

27th March – Mockingbird, Staunton VA:

Mockingbird, 123 W. Beverley Street, Staunton, VA 24401, USA at 7pm

Reservations suggested for this screening. More details here.

Map: Here

28th March – See Festival, Brighton:

Friends Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AF at 7.15pm

Map: Here

If you’re interested in putting on a screening of The Crisis of Civilization in your area, we’d love to hear from you! You can find out more about what’s involved in screening the film here, and get in touch with us on our Contact page for further information. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.