UK Green Festival: Now & Wood

In a year that has seen heatwaves and hurricanes in the United States, severe flooding across Europe and East Asia, and unprecedented wildfires across Italy, Greece and Turkey, our attention remains focused on the challenges of climate change. On Sunday 31 October, Glasgow will be hosting the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26. The summit will bring together heads of state, climate experts, and campaigners to coordinate agreed actions to tackle climate change. Next week, the Showroom welcomes two films from the 2021 UK Green Film Festival, exploring some of the most pressing environmental issues of the moment.

Screening Tuesday 9 November is Now, a documentary that follows a group of young climate activists from around the globe as they attempt to initiate change. These young people are understandably angry and frustrated at an older generation who have failed to act quickly enough to the climate crisis. Doing everything they can to challenge the status quo, the young activists at the centre of Now take to the streets to fight for their future. With appearances from iconic veterans of protest Wim Wenders and Patti Smith, and featuring Greta Thunberg’s landmark school strikes, Now is a powerful call for action, led by children and young adults who demand to see real change.

On Thursday 11 November, we will be screening Wood, a thrilling documentary that reveals the hidden story of the illegal logging industry, a global business worth billions. In a format that unravels almost like a thriller, Wood follows Alexander von Bismarck, a descendant of the Iron Chancellor, and head of the Environmental Investigation Agency, as he follows the timber mafia worldwide. With dyed hair, a hidden camera and covert sound recording equipment, von Bismarck attempts to reveal the scale and effects of this illegal underground industry. There is a focus on the corrupt nature of forest industries across the globe, particularly Romania, which has the largest area of old-growth forest in the EU, going back to the end of the ice age. Half of all forestry production in Romania is now the result of illegal logging.

These two films illustrate the ongoing challenges facing our global environment and the constant call for change. We’re proud to be partnering with UK Green Film Festival to bring these documentaries to Sheffield audiences.

Now and Wood will be screening as part of the UK Green Film Festival at Showroom Cinema on 9 and 11 November.

This article first featured in the Sheffield Telegraph on Thursday 28 October 2021.