OF ABUNDANCE
A GLOBAL FILM IMPACT TOUR
FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS
500+ Debates
300+ Cities
80+ Partners
30+Decision-making conferences UN forum on Business and Human rights, EU Parliament, OECD, COP Biodiversity, COP Escazu
70+ Community in Resistance screenings
Film directors and protagonists were all together for impact at COP 16 Biodiversity in Colombia, October 2024.
INTRO
For us, a film is not an end point, to be consumed and forgotten in an ocean of productions. A film is made to trigger change, emotional, individual and/or societal. It is our responsibility - in this burning world - to use films beyond the mere market realm and to use them as impact tools.
These are some reflections about the impact tour of THE ILLUSION OF
ABUNDANCE: Why and how we did it? What did we learn and achieve?
We hope these pages will provide insights for what you do, no matter you are a filmmaker, an artist, a journalist or anyone doing impact. Enjoy!
& Matt
IMPACT TIMELINE
World Avant-Premiere
at EU Parliament with protagonists 10/2022
UN Palais des Nations
Screening with protagonist 11/2022
Start of the tour in Latin American 06/2023
EU tour in 10 countries
45 days with film protagonists 10/2022
French Parliament
Screening with film protagonist 03/2023
Tour in Brazil with film protagonist 08/2023
IMPACT TIMELINE
Tour in Honduras with protagonist 03/2024
COP 16 with the three film protagonists 10/2024 Tour in Peru with protagonists 04/2024
Harmony with Nature High-Level Meeting UN New-York 04/2025
100th film Festival selection Phoenix Film Festival, USA 04/2024
Victory! EU Corporate Due Diligence Directive voted! 05/2024 Tour in Mexico 12/2024
The context
In an economic system based on GDP maximisation and unlimited consumption, the international competition for natural resources has tremendly increased in the past 80 years.
Every year, 700 defenders are killed (85% in Latin America).
Yet, there is no clear regulatory framework, but some voluntary UN guildelines, which are not seriously taken by corporations operating in the Global South.
The film took part to a global campaign to advocate for mandatory corporate regulations (national, EU, US , UN levels)
85% in Latin America.
Impact goals - part 1 : Europe
- TO REACH decision-makers on business and human rights at national, regional and international levels
- TO ENRICH the ongoing debate with storytelling on corporate justice and land defenders’ rights
- TO ENGAGE a larger audience through screenings and festivals
- TO BUILD new alliances between civil society organizations
Film protagonist
and
during the film 45 day-impact tour in Europe (Picture at UN in Geneva)
Carolina de Moura
lawyer Danilo Chammas
Victory!
The film became a main audiovisual tool for Civil Society Organisastions advocacy on the EU Commission’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.
In May 2024, the EU Parliament and the EU Member-states voted in favour of this key regulation.
And now what for companies?
EU transnational corporations and non-EU corporations based in the EU will have to monitor, anticipate and fix any human righs and nature rights violations in their global production chain.
Communities in the Global South will be better equiped to sue corporations in case of violations of basic rights.
The Americas
Latin America - impact goals
- TO EMPOWER communities in resistance, across the continent
- TO REACH decision-makers on the protection of environmental defenders (COP Escazu, COP biodiversity, national governments, etc.)
70+ Community screenings
Screening in Lima, at the illegal 10km Wall of Shame, dividing neighbourhoods
“This film inspired us to keep resisting when the corporation had managed to divide our community. “
Community screenings
Screening in La Guajira, Colombia, where a small farmervillage is threatened and divided by a coal mine.
The film is used : to meet communities in resistance to show what extractivism is about to debate and express themselves to connect with other communities to learn about media as a tool to learn how to defend their rights (with partner NGOs)
United States
The tour in the USA was decentralized : 10 film festival selections 1 nomination and 3 awards Invitation to the UN in New York Universities via DocuSeek
IMPACT RESULTS : Tour in the EU
ACTIVITIES RESULTS
EU Tour with protagonist Carolina de Moura and her lawyer Danilo Chammas.
Screenings and meetings with high level decisionmakers in 10 EU countries.
NOTES
Advocay on the Corporate Due Diligence
Directive
Directive voted and adopted in May 2024
Don’t underestimate coordination : it takes a lot of time and dialogues and logistics to get there!
IMPACT RESULTS : Tour in Latin America
ACTIVITIES RESULTS
Tour in 6 countries: , (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico & Peru)
50+ Community screenings
Advocacy screenings Creating alliances, meeting high level decision-makers
Empowerement and community strenghtening
Find local partners for logistics! Mobile screening kit!
Visiblize land defenders at key conferences
Activate (inter)national contacts!
By and For Film Protagonists!
A key victory in this impact tour is that the film protagonists are playing crucial roles in pushing for the changes they want to see. It is not an impact tour about them, it is made by and with them.
Carolina, Bertha and Maxima were at the following conferences:
UN forum for environmental defenders (Panama)
UN forum for business and human rights (Switzerland)
COP biodiversity (Colombia)
House of Europe (Austria, Spain)
Parliaments : Belgium, Austria, France, Brussels (EU Parliament)
KEY PEOPLE REACHED
Michel Forst, UN Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders
Susana Muhamad, Environment Minister, Colombia
Lara Wolters, Rapporteur Corporate Due Diligence, EU Parliament
Sam Tanson , Justice Minister, Luxembourg
Marcelo Cousillas, Presidency Escazu Agreement
(among others )
Unlikely actors
Venture Capital, Athora, Triodos (banks, insurances, funds, etc.)
Folksam, ACHMEA, FMO, Rabobank, SER, MN, IBS, DNB, Menke
DECENTRALIZED IMPACT!
As filmmakers, we can’t do it all on our own. Partners did enable us to get where we couldn’t.
Decentralized impact!
We have multiplied the channels of impact to increase the reach:
Decision-markers key venues (conferences, parliaments, etc.)
Film festivals and niche audiences
International TV broadcastings and mass audience reach
Impact screenings (and debates) at city level
National tours, organised by patners involved
Community in resistance screenings
News and (social)media coverage
Being complementary made the impact stronger!
A key factor in the strategy was to build wide win-win partnerships :
National tours : 150+ cities
Full house at a debate in Bern, Switzerland, organised by the “Coalition pour des Multinationales Responsables”.
NGOs activated their networks, part of their national campaign on business and human rights :
In Switzerland, the film was screened in about 30 cities, .
In France, CCFD-Terre Solidaire organised more than 50 screenings.
In Spain, Oxfam Intermon organised 20 screenings.
130+ Film Festivals
Film festivals are key partners: to reach new audiences to multiply screenings (via requests after the festival)
30 Awards
Best documentary film
27th Malaga Film Festival (Spain) // 24th Phoenix Film Fesival (Arizona, USA) // 22nd Innsbruck Nature Film Festival (Austria)
// 16th ONE WORLD (Belgium) // 17th Terra di Tutti HRFF (Italy) // 10th South Texas International Film Festival (Texas, USA) // 5th Millenium Doc HRFF (Belgium) // 11th Asti International Film Festival (Italy) // 3rd African Human Rights Film Festival (South Africa) // 29th Golden Beggar (Slovakia) // 4th Puerto Rico FF (Puerto Rico) // 21st SiciliAmbiente FF (Italy) //
10th Constuir Cine (Argentina) // 8th Villa del Cine FF (Colombia) // 13th El Septimo Ojo Es Tuyo HRFF(Bolivia) // 20th
SIMEFEST (Romania) // 9th Portland Ecofilm Fest (Oregon, USA) 2023 // 8th Nebrodi Cinema Doc (Italy) // 15th EXO
mountain Film Festival (Macedonia) // 3rd International Migration and Environment FF (Canada)
Jury Special Mention
Whistleblower Summit & film fest (finalist, Washington DC, USA) // 15th Cine Invisible (Spain) // 3rd Bonito CineSur (Audience award, Brazil) 6th MujerDoc FF (Spain) // 3rd Rhodope International FF (Bulgaria) // 8th Patagonia Environmental FF (Argentina) // 20th Maatsu Nature FF (Estonia) // 18th FICPA (Colombia) // 10th FICFUSA (Colombia)
Do
impact with your sales agent!
United, we stand!
There is a current debate about the role of sales agents : are they braking or pushing the impact strategy?
In our case, the relationship with First Hand Films, one of the world’s leading boutique documentary sales agent, with 25 years experience in the field, was just amazing and complementary.
We put all cards on the table from day one 1. to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and 2. to strengthen our respective impact field operations: one goal, two complementary approaches.
Final words
This is what we’ve achieved so far with this ongoing film impact tour. As many filmmakers, we started from scratch without any funding at all. In the end, we managed to get amazing partners and international results.
The good news is that this recipee for impact success can be reproduced for your projects! Contact us for a tailor-made workshop on your impact campaign, so we can adapt our methodology to what you are doing.
Impact is a life-changing experience, for film teams and protagonists.
We wish you all the best!
Erika & Matt
Unleash the political potential beyond your film: TELL TWO STORIES, NOT ONE!
Although the film story is locked, the impact story is unlocked. Together, these two stories are stronger.
Film crew and film protagonists play key impact roles.
CREDITS - FILM TEAM
JAN DE COSTER: Editor & script doctor
CHARO CALVO: Sound design, Sound editing
NORBERT PFLANZER : music composition
SELIA ÇAKIR : Sound editing
ALINE GAVROY : Sound mixing
JESPER OSMUND : Narrative film angel
DANIELA PINTO : Graphic animator
DAVID FORERO MONTANA : Color grading
ERIKA GONZALEZ RAMIREZ & MATTHIEU LIETAERT: authors, directors, film producers, impact producers
The production company is Not So Crazy! Productions - Belgium.
Funding Partners
