Young Canadian climate activist and filmmaker Slater Jewell-Kemker premiered her documentary “Youth Unstoppable” on Thursday evening, ahead of Friday’s global protests.
Jewell-Kemker started telling the stories of young climate activists around the world at the age of 15. After years of filming and meeting young people from Nepal in Paris and Japan, his documentary shows the authenticity of the evolution of the youth climate movement.
“Over the past 15 years, the movement has changed a lot and has taken hold and questioned its own identity as a youth movement,†she told CNN. “Some of the most significant things I’ve seen are how diverse it has become, how Indigenous leaders, youth and voices are increasingly becoming the core and heart of this movement. ”
Like many climate activists today, her journey in activism began after watching the climate documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” at a young age and feeling frustrated by the lack of action.
“I wasn’t sure how I could get involved. I wasn’t necessarily going to be the kid who went out and chained herself to a reactor refinery, â€she said. “But I had a camera and I knew how to talk to people and ask them questions. And so for me it was like I could be part of the movement, how I could be an activist. And that’s just from there that it developed.
Jewell-Kemker said she joined the climate protests in Paris in 2015 and was injured when police fired tear gas, stun grenades and water cannons on the Champs-Elysees. “I felt so overwhelmed, I felt so terrified of this whole story of how we are in this really awful moment, and it doesn’t seem like most people are doing anything about it,†he said. she declared.
“And I really felt like it was an older generation, coming in and saying ‘this is what the rest of your life will be like’, and I felt like I didn’t have my word. to say about my future. “
After Thursday’s world premiere of “Youth Unstoppable,” Jewell-Kemker told CNN she felt relieved after the many years that have taken her creation.
“Young people need to be reminded that they are part of something bigger than us and that we have the power to make a difference,” she said.
His documentary is currently being broadcast for free on WaterBear, a streaming platform focusing on climate change, biodiversity and nature. It will also be screened at the upcoming COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in November.
