Emma Thompson Stars In A New All-Vegan Extinction Rebellion Film

Dame Emma Thompson is starring in a new short film about Extinction Rebellion. 

The film tells a fictionalised story of a group of climate activists meeting the UK Environment Minister Lord Grant during the rebellion. It was shot during last year’s protests in London which led the UK to become the first country in the world to declare the climate emergency.

The Oscar-winning actress joined the protesters in 2019 and took part in the movie project. She was required to make her own costume and travel to the movie set by public transport every day. All the outfits used on a set were cruelty-free and made from sustainable materials and meals for the cast and crew were 100 per cent vegan. 

Emma Thompson explained the importance of the movement, saying: “Everything depends on what we do now. In a crisis, you have to convince people to take positive and immediate action. The suffragettes taught us that. You have to be active in your disobedience."

“I hope this film makes protest seem as useful and as maddening as it is. I hope it illustrates the frustration of trying to get through to government officials who can’t hear anything but the sound of their own voices,” she added.

The film was co-written by Sam Haygarth, who recently featured in the Oscar movie Jojo Rabbit. Haygarth believes that “it is the duty of writers and of artists to work towards a just and sustainable future.” He also took part in last year's Extinction Rebellion protests and shared his experience in a stand-up performance during Edinburgh Fringe Festival. 

Haygarth says that though the film “may get lost in the current news cycle, it contains some really important lessons for the current times”.

Ha added: “How we respond to the coronavirus crisis is a test run for how we need to respond to the climate crisis, and we see the same forces attempting to obscure and to undermine science in pursuit of perpetual growth and private profit. Whatever happens next, we can be sure that ‘business as usual’ is no longer tenable.” 

The team behind the film involved an even split of genders, and the work was dived equally among all of them.  

Director and co-writer Jack Cooper Stimpson said: “It was really important to us that this film was not just a film about climate justice, but a film which embodied the values it seeks to advance.”

The 12-minute movie is available to watch online here.