Tom McCarthy's A Statement takes 1980 climate meeting to New York
Twenty experts walk into a beachside hotel in Florida in late October 1980 with a brief from Congress. Agree a statement on what to do about carbon dioxide, the gas released by burning fossil fuels that traps heat in the atmosphere. That closed-door weekend is the subject of A Statement, directed by Tom McCarthy and programmed for its world premiere at the 64th New York Film Festival, according to Deadline. A world premiere means the first public screening.
The festival runs from 25 September to 12 October. The film was named in the festival's Spotlight lineup, a sidebar section for new work, according to Film at Lincoln Center. Sony Pictures Classics, the speciality distributor, will release the film, according to TheWrap. That sets the usual festival path, premiere first and cinema release to follow.
The story centres on a 1980 conference dealing with the effects of carbon dioxide emissions on the environment, according to Deadline. It gathers politicians, academics, scientists and environmentalists from around the United States. In the festival description, 20 experts meet for a weekend conference. Their task is narrow and difficult. Write one agreed text in four sessions over two days.
Much of the film stays around a large table in a conference room at the St. Pete Beach hotel. The setting is a beachside resort in Florida in 1980. The timing is exact. The meeting takes place in late October 1980, days before Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter to become United States President, according to Deadline.
The mandate comes from Congress. A group of scientists, activists and policymakers must produce a statement about what to do, according to Sony Pictures Classics. The screenplay is largely taken from the actual transcripts of the meeting, the word-for-word written record, according to Deadline. McCarthy adapted the material with co-writers Thomas Bidegan and Noé Debré from Nathaniel Rich's book Losing Earth: A Recent History.
The ensemble includes Paul Rudd, Amy Ryan, Paul Giamatti and John Turturro, according to Film at Lincoln Center. Evan Peters also appears in the Spotlight announcement, according to Film at Lincoln Center. Tatiana Maslany is also in the cast, according to TheWrap. No release date beyond the festival premiere has been announced in the verified material.
What makes this stand out on a festival programme is the shape of it. One room. Two days. A single document to write.
