Metamorphosis

by Velcrow Ripper & Nova Ami

A poem for the planet, METAMORPHOSIS takes the pulse of our Earth and bears witness to a moment of profound change: the loss of one world and the birth of another

2018 · 1h25m · Canada

English

About the Film

METAMORPHOSIS captures the true scale of the global environmental crisis. Forest fires consume communities, species vanish, and entire ecosystems collapse. Economic growth, tied to increased speed of resource extraction, has created a machine with the capacity to destroy all life.

But this crisis is also an opportunity for transformation.

Through a tidal flow of stunning images, Metamorphosis carves a path from the present to the future, and offers a bold new vision for humanity and the world.

In Milan, architects design vertical forests, urban towers covered with trees and bushes that reduce CO2, produce oxygen, and give new life to the city. In Phoenix, Arizona, swimming pools are repurposed into self-sustaining gardens, lush with plants and fish that generate food for people. In LA, installing solar panels in underserved neighbourhoods provides cleaner energy to families who normally would not be able to access it.

Woven through these and other stories of creativity and reinvention from artists, scientists, thinkers, and young children are creative, systemic solutions for our planet, and for our communities as well.

From the deep ecologic connection that humans share with each other, a radical form of hope emerges, vibrant and alive, like a chrysalis splitting open to reveal some new thing ready to take flight. METAMORPHOSIS cinematically delves into how humanity is being transformed in new ways by the environmental crises we have created.

Screenings of this film have been made possible thanks to the National Film Board of Canada.

Upcoming Screenings

Stay tuned for upcoming screenings!

Festivals and Awards

2018

DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Official Selection

2018

DOCLANDS, Official Selection

2018

Santa Barbara International Film Festival , Official Selection

2018

Edinburgh International Film Festival, Official Selection

2018

Shanghai International Film Festival , Official Selection

2018

FIN Atlantic International Film Festival , Official Selection

In the Press

Review

Globe and Mail

Review

POV Magazine

Review

NOW

Interview

Rabble

Editor

Eugene Weis

Cinematographer

Velcrow Ripper and Grant Baldwin

Producer

Laurent Grant, Nova Ami, Velcrow Ripper, Bonnie Thompson (NFB) and David Christensen (NFB)

Soundtrack Composer

James Markt Stewart

Writer

Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper

Film Related

About the Director

Nova Ami

Velcrow Ripper

Velcrow Ripper is a Canadian Academy Award (Genie) winning filmmaker, writer, web artist, and sound designer. He has directed over thirty films and videos, both fiction and issue-oriented documentary, often with an experimental edge.

He creates powerful, cinematic documentaries that deal with the central issues of our times. Since his earliest documentary in 1979, Iran the Crisis, Velcrow has recognized the power of film to explore and express issues of social concern. His films include In The Company of Fear, a documentary on non-violent resistance to the “dirty war” in Colombia; Golden Gate Award-winning Open Season, about bear hunters and the activists who “hunt the hunters”; and the multi-award-winning non-fiction feature Bones of the Forest, about the struggle to save the ancient forests of British Columbia (Best of the Festival, 1996 Hot Docs! Festival; and Best Feature Doc, 1996 Genie Awards).

Velcrow’s films are stylistically innovative, engaging and moving. Particular attention is given to the sound design. He is well known for his award-winning sound design of such films as The Corporation (Best Sound, Leo Awards), and A Place Called Chiapas (Best Sound, Hot Docs!; Best Sound, Leo Awards).

His films have won twenty awards, including a Genie, Best of the Festival, Special Jury Awards, and a Silver Spire at the San Francisco International Film Festival. He is currently working on a novel based on his ScaredSacred journey, and developing his next feature documentary, ‘FierceLight’, and the feature drama, ‘RisingSlowlyFalling.’

Other films by Velcrow Ripper