USA: Actor Leonardo DiCaprio uses star power to help global warming documentary, "The 11th Hour," shine

Record ID: 477762

  • Title: USA: Actor Leonardo DiCaprio uses star power to help global warming documentary, "The 11th Hour," shine
  • Date: 9th August 2007
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 7, 2007) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR LEONARDO DICAPRIO ON THE POINT OF MAKING THE DOCUMENTARY, SAYING: "I really wanted to come in here and take on the role of a concerned citizen and asking questions to people who devout their life to this subject matter. The great thinkers in the environmental movement, the great s
  • Embargoed: 24th August 2007 13:00
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  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA5W3SKP8I093IY0V0UIKF6D499
  • Story Text: Actor Leonardo DiCaprio takes on the roll of narrator in the stylish documentary on global warming, "The 11th Hour." The Hollywood star, whose made a second career out of his long-term commitment to environmental issues, helps move the film along by adding convenient segues to some of the brightest scientific minds on the controversial issue.
    "I really wanted to come in here and take on the role of a concerned citizen and asking questions to people who devout their life to this subject matter," DiCaprio told Reuters. "The great thinkers in the environmental movement, the great scientist. They really shape the structure of this movie and I always say that when you make a normal movie, the director is God. When you make a documentary, God is the director. They really shaped what the narrative of the film was. It was a pretty powerful one, the ideas are very thought provoking and transformational."
    Co-Directors, Lila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners, who've worked with DiCaprio on previous environmental films, do a very good job of making "The 11th Hour" interesting and informative. In its 91-minutes, the film explores how humanity has arrived at this moment - how we live, how we impact the earth's ecosystems, and what we can do to change our course. The film features dialogues with experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolsey and sustainable design experts William McDonough and Bruce Mau in addition to over 50 leading scientists, thinkers and leaders who present the facts and discuss the most important issues that face our planet.
    Environmentalist Kenny Ausubel though credits DiCaprio with helping bring it all together.
    "I think it is amazing what Leo has done here to use his position and his intelligence to. He really grasps this work and has studied it, to bring attention to these kinds of people. This is the world that I work in and these are the best and the brightest, the wisest and most soulful people out there and they have really contemplated this stuff. There is real wisdom in this film and this is a real galaxy of stars.
    DiCaprio added that the film's premise is one anyone would find hard to argue against.
    "It was a profound experience listening to what these people had to say and at the end of the day it's an issue that has a broad spectrum that reaches people in all walks of life. Whether you believe in the science of global warming or not, specifically, you can't argue with wanting to be energy independent and less dependent on foreign oil. You can't argue with wanting clean air and clean water. This a universal issue and this is a universal movement."
    "The 11th Hour" opens in Los Angeles and New York on August
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