Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for a Living Planet is a documentary made by Mark Kitchell and inspired by the book of the same name by Philip Shabecoff. Shabecoff named the book after the phrase used by a forest ranger to describe the look in the eyes of a wolf he had killed, which awakened the ranger’s understanding of his role in the “web of life” and the consequences of chipping away at that web. The film chronicles the environmental movement of the last half century, told through five acts, each with a central story and character. These acts include David Brower and the Sierra Club’s battle to halt dams in the Grand Canyon, Lois Gibbs and Love Canal residents’ struggle against 20,000 tons of toxic chemicals, Paul Watson and Greenpeace’s campaigns to save whales and baby harp seals, Chico Mendes and Brazilian rubber tappers’ fight to save the Amazon rainforest, and Bill McKibben and his 25-year effort to address climate change. Woven throughout these main stories are shared themes like environmental justice, valuing the land simply for the land’s sake, and humanity’s place as simply one strand in the web of life. Vivid archival footage offers viewers first hand insights into the stories and informative interviews shed light on the events in larger context. The film offers a deeper view of environmentalism as civilizational change, bringing our industrial society into sustainable balance with nature.
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