Golden Nymph gong for climate film

Documentary film NOW – about young climate activists – has been named as the ‘winning production’ at this year’s prestigious Golden Nymph Awards. Which are presented to the winners of the official competition of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival.

Innovators Magazine is a proud media partner of the film, which was created and written by Claudia Rinke, a regular contributor to the magazine, and directed by Jim Rakete.

In a Q&A ahead of its release this year, I spoke to Claudia about her inspiration for the documentary and what impact she hopes it will make.

What is NOW about?

NOW is a documentary film about young environmental activists, most of them are climate activists. The film also features experts like Marc Buckley and Parag Khanna, and thought leaders like Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus and the musician and author Patti Smith. The film looks at the climate movement from different perspectives and gives unique and close insights into the lives and actions of the protagonists. It also portraits the movement as such and how it has grown within less than a year to a global force which will not go away any time soon.

Where did the idea come from?

I have worked internationally for the UN for several years as a Legal Advisor. Through this experience I have become aware how crucial the current young generation is for the course the world takes next. That was one of the reasons I have written two young adult books. Since there was a lot of interest to make a film adaptation based on my novel THE BRIDE I had the chance to also make a documentary film. It was immediately clear to me that I wanted to make a film about young activists. At the same time the climate movement gathered momentum and we had the rare opportunity to document this process from the beginning; we were there when history was written.

What impact do you want NOW to have?

We wanted to give insights into the lives of the activists, many of them still go to school and are at the same time involved in building a global movement … some of them even speak at the UN and debate with heads of state. Those scenes show how extraordinary and sometimes bizarre the situation really is… like when Donald Trump gets up during a speech of Greta Thunberg at the UN. 

It would also be wonderful if we could inspire others. If schoolchildren can do this, everybody can …. and should. The adult generation should actually step and find solutions for the mess they have created. The young generation is not responsible for the global challenges which we are currently facing. We need to act NOW!

Watch our editor-at-large, Marc Buckley, introduce the documentary.