During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, filmmakers Emma Wall and Betsy Hershey (“Guerrilla Habeas”) jumped on a life-changing Zoom call organized by a lauded host: Oscar-winning director Adam McKay. The “Don’t Look Up” helmer would become a direct influence on the duo’s feature debut, the reverentially titled “Just Look Up,” following the work and impact of American activist group Climate Defiance.
The documentary, world premiering at CPH:DOX and headed straight to the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, centers around Climate Defiance founder Michael Greenberg. The young man launched the group in 2023, aiming to end fossil fuel extraction on U.S. federal lands and waters and elevate climate change to a top-three political issue in American politics. To attract attention to their cause, Climate Defiance often disrupts public events, directly confronting Big Oil corporate key figures and the politicians who enable them. Videos of their confrontations have amassed millions of views online.
Hershey recalls how the McKay talk, organized in partnership with Climate Emergency Fund and also featuring an array of scientists and researchers, offered participants a precious insight into the theory of how change happens. According to data presented at the time, when just 3.5% of a population commits to sustained disruption, governments almost always shift. “It was the convincing motivation for us to hear that it’s been proven to be effective even when these things aren’t popular at the time,” the director tells Variety.
Wall points out how, despite having access to a wide-ranging selection of experts through that initial gathering, she and Hershey were never interested in a classic talking-heads style, evidence-based doc. “We were only interested in the verité, observational, investigative style.”
With this in mind, the duo set out to find the perfect subject from which to explore this grander idea, landing on Climate Defiance while the group was still in its infancy. Both directors wanted to tackle the grim subject of climate change with a lighter, well-humored hand. When they met Greenberg, a passionate leader who also happens to be a stand-up comedian, they knew they had their main character.
Once the ball was rolling, McKay entered the project as an executive producer, and so did twice-Oscar-nominated director Joshua Oppenheimer (“The Act of Killing”). Throughout the edit, the directors would send clips to both seasoned filmmakers, who were “so supportive.” “They’ve been supporters, seeing cuts along the way, but also gave us real editorial freedom in terms of honoring the story. They’re heroes of ours, both of them. It was the ultimate wish fulfilment and I think a testament to their concerns over this issue,” says Wall.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence in “Don’t Look Up” (Netflix /Courtesy Everett Collection)
©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
As for the homage to McKay’s 2021 star-studded environmental satire “Don’t Look Up” with the film’s title, Wall says she was thrilled to have the director’s support, but also to be able to make a direct nod to the kind of caustic humor the American director became known for. “Adam’s use of humor to speak about really serious issues was also an inspiration,” she says. “Michael is a stand-up comedian, which was a dream come true. Adam’s incredible film spoke to this denial we’re speaking about and also just how powerful humor can be when telling stories we need right now. That was the one thing Betsy and I always said: we were not interested in making a slideshow about the climate crisis. No one wants that.”
Shooting with Climate Defiance meant accompanying activists in precarious, risky situations, including high-profile dinners and galas where the group would target heavily guarded figures such as Bill Gates, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and current U.S. vice-president J.D. Vance. Asked about the practicalities of such a production, the filmmakers say they were flexible and nimble with shooting, often capturing footage on their phones. Another key element of the production was having iron-clad legal support.
“We worked so closely from the beginning with our incredible First Amendment rights lawyer and she was an essential part of making this film,” noted Hershey. “Every time we went into a disruption, she knew where we were going and who was there. In this day and age, it’s getting more and more dangerous in this country. We are having our right to protest taken away, activists [are] being killed in the streets. It couldn’t be more important to see people continuing to act during this time when people are doing a really good job of making it terrifying.”
While environmental documentaries have once heavily permeated doc festivals and streaming platforms, nowadays, war docs have taken up a lot of the space when talking about timely, urgent films. The U.S. invasion of Iran last week prompted a wave of social media memes about how it feels pointless to “drink from paper straws” when world leaders are leaning heavily into militarization and large-scale violence. When enquired about the importance of continuing to speak on climate at such times, Hershey says it’s “understandable how our focus keeps shifting to each horrible unfolding event.”
“It’s not a coincidence that the countries [the U.S.] has been invading, whether it’s Venezuela or Iran, are large oil-producing countries,” adds the director. “So much of this geopolitical warfare and the immigration crisis stems from the climate crisis. These are part of this kind of war being waged over fossil fuels.”
Hershey highlights how she also thinks it’s important for people outside the U.S. to see “we are not giving up.” “I have people reach out to me and ask: Are you guys ok over there? I think it’s important for the rest of the world to see we are not going to give up our right to protest. We’re just going to keep pushing back.”
“Just Look Up” is produced by four-time Oscar nominee Signe Byrge Sørensen at Final Cut for Real in co-production with Natja Rosner at Guest House Productions. Final Cut For Real handles international sales.
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