Directors DANIELLA ORTEGA, NIOBE THOMPSON (AUSTRALIA/CANADA 2021) 86 min
Humans—along with essentials like the sun, fire, plastic, and plants—are one of many things born of carbon. Social discourse routinely vilifies this crucial and life-giving element, instead fixating on its destructive characteristics that we alone are responsible for extracting. Carbon seeks to change that narrative. This film demystifies the most talked about but least understood element on earth, reveling in its omnipresent complexities. Carbon is personified as a woman—voiced by Sarah Snook of HBO’s Succession—and serves as the film’s central narrator. Interviews with passionate scientists (including Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson) are intermingled with imaginative animation, pertinent archival footage, and exquisite shots of plant and human life. We explore carbon’s role in everything from star formation to global warming and photosynthesis, as filmmakers Daniella Ortega and Niobe Thompson paint a lyrical picture of the interconnectivity of all living things.