alliancefilmsmedia.com

alliancefilmsmedia.com

Surviving Progress, as the name suggests, is a film that questions our understanding of progress by pushing viewers to see progress as a movement that threatens humanity, rather than as positive advancement. The documentary, based on Ronald Wright’s best selling non fiction book A Short History of Progress, is a thought-provoking, engaging, and confrontational film. Shot in Canada, Brazil, China, and the United States, directors Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks survey a vast number of thinkers in the field and gain varying perspectives on the issue. These intellects include, but are not limited to, Margaret Atwood, Jane Goodall, Stephen Hawking, and David Suzuki.

Although the film largely consists of talking heads in banal settings such as offices and studies, these prosaic shots are interspersed with eye-catching visual imagery. It is this display of the accelerated cityscape and the eventual inevitability of what Wright calls “the progress trap” that saves the documentary from mediocrity. Put simply, these “progress traps,” which are the main feature of the film, consist of seemingly positive innovations that result in an unsustainable use of the environment and “too much” progress.

The film is successful in several ways. First, it takes a concept which some are familiar with, that modern technology is both the upside and downside of progress, and creates a space where scientific and economic concepts can be discussed, while at the same time appealing to a mass audience and not making assumptions about the viewer’s background knowledge. Next, although clearly motivated by revealing said downside, the filmmakers avoid pushing this idea down the figurative throats of viewers. Instead, they allow both sides of the discussion to be heard, and ultimately vouch for the attitude that society needs to stop acting as gods. The film contends that we should attempt to correct the mistakes that have been made through decreased consumption and acknowledgement of past failures.

It is impossible to deny the sharp and captivating images the filmmakers employ. The forest fire analogy in particular was one that garnered attention. The visual metaphor is used to morph an image of an illuminated downtown city into one that appears to be glowing with flames. This skilfully calls attention to our destruction of the planet through the technological progression that we naively praise.

A running juxtaposition is made throughout the documentary between humans and chimpanzees, showing that our society differs from these primates merely due to our ability to ask “Why?” We wonder what the unobservable phenomenon is that will explain the observable phenomenon in our everyday lives. This contrast is held until the final moments of the film whereby it appears that the chimp realizes the ability to balance both building blocks, pointing to increased knowledge of the apes and our similarities to the species.

Although other recent documentaries have addressed similar issues facing humanity, the filmmakers of Surviving Progress reveal society’s mistakes from a much greater perspective. Ultimately, the film aks difficult and critical questions facing  humanity in a relatable, interesting, and intelligent way.

Surviving Progress opens November 4th at Cinema du Parc.