The citizens of Malmö defied the weather
The CIVITAS SMILE project organised through the Streets and Parks Department a showing of the much-disputed film, “The inconvenient truth” during Christmas. The theatre was almost full; as the weather was clearly ”cinema weather”.Through advertising in the local newspaper, Sydsvenskan, the citizens in Malmö were invited to watch the much disputed climate film by Al Gore, the film was shown twice daily between the 27th and 29th December .
On premiere day, the theatre was not full, but the rumour quickly spread and the theatre quickly filled. After three days, 584 persons had seen the film. In the trailer for the film, a connection was made between the rather unusual winter weather at the time and the current climate change debate. The main message being “Rather typical cinema weather these days, isn’t it”?The audience were offered information concerning Malmös measures in regards to sustainable transport actions. People were also asked to fill in a form with New Year resolutions. In total 464 persons filled in at least one climate resolutions such as “leave your car behind, if travelling less than 3 km”.Immediately the organizers received very positive feedback from the film. Many people said, “You have to show this film to more people, everyone has to see it”. Heléne Östberg in Malmö tells us that they are currently looking at a concept to allow showing the film in other settings and on other occasions. Information has been distributed to all schools in Malmö, informing them how they may obtain a copy of the film at a low cost, to enable to film to be shown in the class. The film has also been shown at an “Inkonst” event and there is an idea currently being worked on, to allow all employees of the city of Malmö to also see the film.
