"There are more than six billion of us on Earth, and there will be no sustainable development if we cannot manage to live together," comments French photographer/filmmaker Yann Anthus-Bertrand, in reference to his latest film, Six Billion Others - Climate Voices.
Photo: Chad Holcomb
Influenced by a helicopter rides he took while shooting for his 1994 landmark photographic book, "The Earth From Above," Anthus-Bertrand began to wonder what he would learn if he could speak with every human being on the planet and how his understanding of humanity would change. Years later, what began as a mere thought evolved into a feature-length film comprising over 5,000 interviews with people from more than 75 countries. Remarkably, the intervieweesÜfrom a farmer in Afghanistan, to a shopkeeper in China, to a fisherman in BrazilÜshared similar experiences regarding love, family, childhood, happiness, values, money, war and most importantly, climate change. The resulting enlightening feature is a stunning video mosaic that reminds viewers how closely related human beings are, if not by the fact that we all live on the same planet, then by the realization that even the most basic of human emotions unifies us all.
Six Billion Others - Climate Voices was officially launched in Copenhagen during the 2009 Climate Change Conference to present the collective voice of those not present whose lives have already been impacted by climate change.