Mother: Caring for 7 Billion

Just heard about a documentary about the environmental implications of human population growth (and also some of the claims of ecofeminism we previously discussed) called “Mother: Caring for 7 Billion” that seemed oddly relevant to our discussion in class this past week and thought some people might be interested in checking it out!

I haven’t seen the film, but they have a trailer on the site (and I think the whole film can be watched for $0.99 for the rest of International Women’s Month) if anyone’s interested: http://motherthefilm.com/ .

Mother: Caring For 7 Billion from Tiroir A Films on Vimeo.

The description (from their Facebook page) is:

"Mother is a must-see film on why population growth still matters and what is hindering action to reduce it." -Hania Zlotnik Director of Population Division, United Nations

Mother: Caring for 7 Billion is an environmental documentary that looks at the implications of our earth's increasing population and the effect it has on our planet socially and environmentally. Through interviews with experts in the field of environmentalism, social science, economics, human rights and the main character, who is a mother and activist herself, the film strives not to blame but to educate and to highlight a different path for humanity.

Mother, the film, breaks a 40-year taboo by bringing to light an issue that silently fuels our most pressing environmental, humanitarian and social crises - population growth.

Since the 1960s the world population has nearly doubled, adding more than 3 billion people. At the same time, talking about population has become politically incorrect because of the sensitivity of the issues surrounding the topic– religion, economics, family planning and gender inequality. Yet it is an issue we cannot afford to ignore.

Grounded in the theories of social scientist Riane Eisler, the film strives not to blame but to educate, to highlight a different path for humanity. Overpopulation is merely a symptom of an even larger problem - a "domination system" that for most of human history has glorified the domination of man over nature, man over child and man over woman. To break this pattern, the film demonstrates that we must change our conquering mindset into a nurturing one. And the first step is to raise the status of women worldwide.

Mother: Caring for 7 Billion, features world-renown experts and scientists including biologist Paul Ehrlich, author of “The Population Bomb,” economist Mathis Wackernagel, the creator of the ground-breaking Footprint Network, Lester Brown, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, and founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute, Malcolm Potts, a pioneer in human reproductive health, and Riane Eisler, whose book “The Chalice and the Blade” has been published in 23 countries.