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DEGROWTH, from the Myth of Abundance to a Wilful Simplicity

DEGROWTH, from the Myth of Abundance to Voluntary Simplicity, is a documentary about this trend of political, economic and social thought that aims to transition to a socio-economic system that integrates the physical limits of the planet.

Cámara Libre

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DEGROWTH, from the Myth of Abundance to a Wilful Simplicity, is a documentary on a new stream of consciousness for a challenging philosophical, economic and social-political scheme.

The project was launched in 2013, and it is currently at the production stage.

Degrowth is aimed at promoting a change into a socio-economic system that considers the physical limits of our planet, ensuring the global redistribution of resources. Based on a political and historiographical reasoning, governments are pretending to get the planet and citizens adapted to their will—productivism, trying to find a technological solution to solve the global ecological and socio-economic crisis, whereas growth objectors are trying to refurbish our lifestyle, willing to adapt it to the existing biospheric limits and to the real human needs.

The documentary will start with a brief historical overview, from the expansion of capitalism to the current global crisis, showing how growth has become a matter of faith for all the economic trends that have taken us to exceeding the natural carrying capacity of our planet.

Then, the environmental and social consequences that this cult of growth has on a finite planet, especially since the emergence of the consumer society in the 1950s to the present day, are shown.

Finally, the main block of the documentary will address the concept of DEGROWTH through interviews with its key players and thinkers, including the critical opinions of other specialists outside the movement. At the same time, this block is supplemented by collective experience of growth objectors in different parts of Spain and France.

Prominent thinkers of Degrowth and distinguished specialists in economy and energy have been already interviewed in Spain, France and Italy, some of whom are (more specialists will be added to the list as soon as they are interviewed):

Santiago Niño-Becerra (Chair of Economic Structure at Ramón Llull University, Barcelona)

Arcadi Oliveres (Professor in the department of Applied Economy at Barcelona Autónoma University)

Carlos Taibo (Professor of Management and Politic Science at Madrid Autónoma University)

Mariano Marzo (Chair of Stratigraphy and Professor of Energy Resources and Petroluem Geology at the Faculty of Geology, University of Barcelona).

Pedro Prieto (Vice-President of the Spanish Association for the Study of Energy Resources)

Francisco Álvarez Molina (Former Vice-President of the Paris Stock Exchange and Independent Financial Adviser)

Timothée Duverger (Professor of Contemporary History at Bordeaux Montaigne University)

Vincent Cheynet (Director and Chief Editor of La Décroissance magazine)

Bruno Clementin (President of the Economic and Social Institute for the Sustainable Degrowth and Manager of La Décroissance magazine)

Paul Aries (Political Scientist and Director of La vie est à Nous ! / Le Sarkophage magazine)

Christian Laurut (Ensayist working on prospective economy and degrowth)

Michel Lepesant (Author of “Política(s) del Decrecimiento” and Member of the M.O.C. -Growth Objectors Mouvement-)

Christian Sunt (Spokesman of the M.O.C. -Growth Objectors Mouvement-)

Mauro Bonaiuti (Economist and Professor at the Universities of Modena, Bologna and Turin, specialising in bio-economy, and Author of “La grande transizione. Dal declino alla società di decrescita”)

A necessary project

Few economists deny it in private, but almost none recognizes it publicly. We begin to confront the physical limits of economic growth: shortage of raw materials and energy, the real crisis underlying and of which politicians do not even want to hear.

We have already exceeded 1.6 times the capacity of the biosphere to produce the resources we need and to absorb the waste the economic process generates. Growth in the absence of limits is only possible at the expense of environmental destruction and the rising inequality, when scarcity begins.

However, an enormous discrepancy exists in terms of the solution to this significant dilemma for modern civilization.

On the one hand, there is orthodoxy, where all economic schools converge. It is the "solution" for those who want to remain in political correctness or rely on any techno-scientific miracle and "sustainable" development: this relentless pursuit will certainly leave out many of the human beings that cannot access increasingly expensive resources for the benefit of the privileged few who can pay for them.

On the other hand, there are people aware of the root of the problem: hubris and arrogance, that have made us act as if infinite growth were possible in a finite world; lack of self-limitation in the way we live; the victory of "having" versus "being", that has colonized our minds by means of the tyranny of advertising. Among these people are the "growth objectors", grouped under the common idea of degrowth as a rejection of the consumer society.

Degrowth is a school of thought that favours a move towards a socio-economic system that integrates the physical limits of the planet, ensuring the redistribution of resources and refusing to adapt people to the will of productivity. Degrowth does not intend to divide the pie, but to change the recipe. But above all, the word degrowth is a provocative slogan that wants to end the cult of an unviable and suicidal growth. We need this documentary to become deeply aware of it.

About us

Having worked many years in the field of audiovisual production, the crisis and the hope to spread other ways of understanding the world have encouraged us to engage in this project. For that purpose, we have created the Cámara Libre Association, whose first project will be the production of this documentary.

Manuel Picazo Casariego holds a degree in Information Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid. He has worked for 25 years in the field of audiovisual production, directing his own production company, ArcoDigital Productions, and has been responsible for several television and communication projects in different companies.

He is currently an independent director and producer, being the co-director of this documentary.

Luis Picazo Casariego, Manuel’s brother, has a degree in Biological Sciences from the Autonomous University of Madrid. He began working as a computer programmer. Later on, he partnered with Manuel to work on ArcoDigital Productions, producing and writing scripts. He has lived in France for 10 years, where he learnt about the degrowth movement. He is the author and co-director of the project.

Why are we seeking funding?

This is an ambitious documentary in contents but has a very austere budget. However, we are working with an optimal level of quality that will allow the film to be projected in theaters and international festivals.

We are independent producers having started from scratch, as we do not have sponsors yet. We have tons of enthusiasm and experience, but we need your help to cover the expenses that we have already incurred, in order to bring this project to fruition, whose spreading we estimate nowadays more urgent and necessary than ever. Out of a total budget of 22,000 euros, we intend to cover 3,000 by means of crowdfunding. The rest will be completed by other means as co-production or sponsorship.

What will the money be used for?

Filming some remaining interviews in Spain and France, as well as gathering collective experiences of growth objectors.

Furthermore, filming of images for the documentary and purchasing archive footage.

Schedule

After several months of preproduction, filming started last October 2013. By spring 2014 we expect to complete the interviews and recordings of the collective experiences and editing our own archive footage. If everything goes as expected, postproduction will start by the summer 2014, taking up to a few months.

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