When we talk about climate change or global warming in the Western world, we almost always frame the debate in terms of our own futures. Very little attention is played to the impact our actions are having on those in poorer area of the world right now. Much of Africa, in particular, is already bearing the brunt of what the developed world has been doing for hundreds of years and continues to do at increasing rates.
Anita Shitaya has a very special gift. She’s skilled in the art of persuasion. She can tease life into the arid soil or make men stand up for women’s right, but she has finally met her match. In her village in Malawi, global warming is making it increasingly difficult to eke out an existence. This is a situation which is reflected in many parts of the ‘developing world’. In The Ants & the Grasshopper, she heads to America to persuade them that climate change is real.
The Ants & the Grasshopper is a thoughtful documentary about the impact of climate change on one of the most susceptible regions in the world. This is a day-to-day problem for millions of people, not just a future issue as it’s often viewed in the ‘developed world’. Directors Raj Patel and Zak Piper take an unusual and interesting approach to the crisis. The Ants & the Grasshopper brings the urgency and importance of this emergency into sharp relief.
The Ants & the Grasshopper is out in UK cinemas on 23 September.
