Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is fighting to the end…
The trailer has been released to Rachel Lears’ new documentary To the End, featuring the 33-year-old Puerto Rican politician and activist who has served as the U.S. representative for New York’s 14th congressional district since 2019.
Lears’ follow-up to her breakthrough film Knock Down the Housedocuments young progressive activists and Ocasio-Cortez in their relentless effort to engineer major action combatting climate change.
“Fighting for change politically requires faith,” AOC says in the trailer. Regarding the urgent need to avoid a climate catastrophe, Ocasio-Cortez notes, “This is going to be the moon shot of our generation.”
To the End was acquired by Roadside Attractions after its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last January.
The version of the documentary that hits theaters on December 9 has been significantly revised since Sundance, to reflect dramatic changes in the political fortunes of climate change legislation.
“When the film premiered at Sundance, it was right after [Democratic] Senator Joe Manchin killed the Build Back Better bill. And there was at that point no particular prospect of major climate legislation passing,” Lears tells Deadline. “But as the gears continued churning for a few months, they did reach a deal in July and we knew right away we’ve got to reedit the film, we’ve got to shoot what we can to end the story this way.”
In August President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 into law, providing significant funding for green energy and other measures to attack climate change.
“We changed the ending, for one thing,” Lears explains. “The film now ends with historic legislation passing and our protagonists reflecting on this. And it really shows how their work that we see in the film leads to what happens. What they’ve done is to make politically impossible things become possible.”
Lears shortened her film by 10 minutes and also restructured it to align with what she calls a much more hopeful political picture.
“The film was inspiring to me and to many people who saw it, even in the previous cut, because our protagonists are so determined and motivated in their work,” Lears says. “But it’s even more inspiring now when you see that their work has resulted in historic material change.”
In addition to AOC, the film foregrounds Rhiana Gunn-Wright, director of climate policy at the Roosevelt Institute, Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, and Varshini Prakash, executive director, Sunrise Movement.
“We are building an army of young people to stop the climate crisis,” Prakash says in the trailer, “and create millions of good jobs for our generation.”
“When we met these folks in 2018 — well, we’ve known some of them before that — they were really setting out to deliberately shift the paradigm on climate. ‘Let’s turn the crisis into an opportunity to build a better society, to make economic and racial justice part of the solution.’ We wanted to see how far are they going to get with that, Lears says. “I don’t think we even imagined that they would manage to pressure the government into passing the biggest climate legislation, not just in U.S. history, but in world history. But that’s exactly what’s happened.”
Eiza Gonzalez is taking a look at the effects of climate change…
The 31-year-old Mexican actress and singer will be part of Apple TV+’s climate change anthology drama series Extrapolations.
In addition to Gonzalez, other stars set to join the series include Forest Whitaker, Marion Cotillard and Tobey Maguire.
The series hails from Scott Z. Burns.
They join the likes of Meryl Streep, Sienna Miller, Kit Harington, Tahar Rahim, Matthew Rhys, Daveed Diggs, Gemma Chan, David Schwimmer and Adarsh Gourav in the project.
The series, currently in production, tells stories of how the upcoming changes to the planet will affect love, faith, work and family on a personal and human scale. Told over a season of eight interconnected episodes, each story in the scripted series will track the worldwide battle for our mutual survival spanning the 21st century.
Whitaker plays small-time investor August Bolo, Cotillard plays art dealer Sylvie Bolo, Maguire plays kelp farmer Nic and Gonzalez plays artist and influencer Elodie.
It comes from Michael Ellenberg’s Media Res with Burns as writer, director and exec producer.
Gonzalez, who starred in Baby Driver, is set to star in Netflix’s The Three Body Problemfrom the Game of Thronesshowrunners.
Jennifer Lopez is going global to defend the planet…
Global Citizen Live has revealed additional names of performers for its worldwide show on September 25, with the 52-year-old Puerto Rican superstar among those taking the stage.
Global Citizen, the international advocacy group behind the Vax Live concert on May 8, said next month’s event is aimed at defeating poverty, Covid and climate change.
The acts revealed today join Adam Lambert, Alessia Cara, Andrea Bocelli, Angélique Kidjo, Billie Eilish, BTS, Burna Boy, Camila Cabello, Christine and the Queens, Coldplay, Davido, Demi Lovato, DJ Snake, Doja Cat, Duran Duran, Ed Sheeran, Femi Kuti, Green Day, H.E.R.,Hugh Jackman & Deborra-lee Furness, Keith Urban, Lang Lang, Lizzo, Lorde, Metallica, Rag’n’Bone Man, Ricky Martin, Shawn Mendes, The Lumineers, The Weeknd, Tiwa Savage and Usher.
Global Citizen’s stated goal for the event is call on world leaders, major corporations and foundations to donate at least 1 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses to those most in need by September, help the 41 million people on the brink of famine by contributing enough meals to feed everyone for the next year and combat climate change by developing science-based targets to reach net-zero emissions.
Broadcast and streaming partners for Global Citizen Live include ABC, ABC News Live, BBC, FX, iHeartRadio, Hulu, YouTube, Time and Twitter.
Here are the full concert lineups for September 25, with more locations and performances to be announced, per Global Citizen:
NEW YORK CITY Coldplay, Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, Jennifer Lopez, Lizzo, Meek Mill, Shawn Mendes (with guest performances by Alessia Cara, Burna Boy, Cyndi Lauper, Jon Batiste and Lang Lang)
PARIS Ed Sheeran, Doja Cat, DJ Snake, H.E.R., Black Eyed Peas, Christine and the Queens (with a guest performance by Angélique Kidjo)
LAGOS, NIGERIA Femi Kuti, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Made Kuti
Maluma is hoping to raise awareness about climate change…
The 27-year-old Colombian singer/songwriter is joining forces with Bill Nye the Science Guy and fellow superstar musicians for an Earth Day-centered Facebook Watch special dedicated to protecting the planet.
Earth Day! The Musical, formed in partnership with Facebook Watch and EARTHDAY.org, follows Nye, the iconic TV science educator, as he teams up with Maluma and more to share with their fans what part they can play in restoring our Earth.
Nye will also pass the mic to young climate activists discussing what work they’ve been doing to help the planet, including Alexia Akbay, CEO and co-founder of Symbrosia, a Hawaii-based startup using seaweed to reduce livestock methane; Jerome Foster II, the youngest member of the Joe Biden White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council at age 18; and Xiye Bastida, a Mexican-Chilean climate activist and one of the lead organizers of the Fridays for Future youth climate strike movement in New York.
Other A-list musical guests who will be featured in the special include Justin Bieber, Ben Platt, Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, CNCO, Cody Simpson, Idina Menzel, Jack Harlow, Steve Aoki, and Tori Kelly. Zac Efron, Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Karamo Brown, Nick Kroll and more are also slated to appear.
On Monday (April 19), Maluma surprised fans with his freshly minted Earth Day anthem “Rumba (Puro Oro Anthem)“ that he recorded in collaboration with Michelob Ultra Pure Gold to toast to its first-ever organic lager brewed with 100 percent renewable electricity from solar power.
During Earth Day! The Musical, Facebook will roll out its #RestoreOurEarthChallenge, which calls on international viewers to share pictures, videos and other social media posts about the steps they’re taking to combat climate change on Earth Day this year.
“Earth Day! The Musical” will air on Thursday at noon ET on Facebook Watch.
Gomez, one of nine Latino/as to make this year’s list, has been recognized for “unabashedly spreading her wings and influence into whatever lane her passions lead her,” writes America Ferrera in an essay about the artist.
“He’s opened up the doors for Latino artists everywhere by making the world hear and fall in love with our culture, our sounds and our spirit,” says pop star Camila Cabello in an essay about the man born as José Álvaro Osorio Balvín. “What I truly admire and love the most about José is that he is just himself. He’s himself to the world, he’s himself to his friends and his peers, and he’s got the kind of heart that makes him a person everyone is rooting for. When he wins, we all win.”
Anne Hidalgo has been named to the Time 100.
The 61-year-old French–Spanish politician, who has served as Mayor of Paris – is the first woman to hold the office – since 2014, is being recognized for being a leader in the movement to solve the global climate crisis.
“Even in the midst of confronting the global pandemic, Mayor Hidalgo has turned Paris into a shining example of how cities can lead the transition to cleaner, healthier and more prosperous societies,” writes former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. “She is transforming the city’s landscape to make it friendlier to pedestrians and bikers, cutting car traffic and making the air safer to breathe.”
Dr. Cecilia Martinez is also being recognized for her environmental work…
“As a leader in everything from international projects to grassroots organizing, Cecilia Martinez has dedicated her impressive career to a moral imperative: the pursuit of environmental justice and the inclusion of equity and justice in environmental policy,” writes U.S. Senator Cory Booker about the co-founder and executive director at the Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy (CEED).
Bonnie Castillo, the 60-year-old Latina registered nurse and executive director of National Nurses United, has earned her spot on this year’s list for support of frontline health workers.
“She was among the first to call attention to the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) available to nurses across the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, and fought layoffs and pay cuts that nurses faced despite their vital frontline work,” writes civil rights activist and United Farm Workers of America co-founder Dolores Huerta. “Bonnie’s commitment to the labor movement and unions is unwavering; she states that unions are the foundation of a democratic society. Bonnie does not just work to heal patients; she works to heal society.”
Felipe Neto has also made this year’s list…
The 32-year-old Brazilian social media star, who has 39 million YouTube subscribers and 12 million Twitter followers, is considered the most consequential digital influencer in Brazil and possibly in the world.
“A decade ago, from his family’s humble Rio de Janeiro home, he began creating content for YouTube and quickly found fame, a huge and loyal young audience, and lucrative endorsements,” writes Brazilian congressman David Miranda. “What has changed—radically—is how Neto uses his platform. His early notoriety was generated by standard fare for online adolescents: video games, celebrities and girls. But with the 2018 election of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and the empowerment of his proto-fascist movement, Neto, risking his brand and safety, repurposed his popularity to become one of Bolsonaro’s most effective opponents.”
For the second year in a row, Jair Bolsonaro has been named to the Time 100.
“The story of Brazil’s year can be told in numbers: 137,000 lives lost to the coronavirus. The worst recession in 40 years. At least five ministers sacked or resigned from the Cabinet. More than 29,000 fires in the Amazon rain forest in August alone. One President whose stubborn skepticism about the pandemic and indifference to environmental despoliation has driven all these figures upward,” writes Time’s international editor. “Yet the number that really matters is 37—the percentage of Brazilian society that approved of Jair Bolsonaro in a late-August poll, the highest rating since he took office early last year. Despite a storm of corruption allegations, and one of the highest COVID-19 death tolls in the world, the right-wing firebrand remains popular with a large section of Brazilians.”
Sister Norma Pimentel is being heralded for her work with immigrants…
“Sister Pimentel has been on the front lines of mercy for three decades, supporting migrants who are seeking refuge in the U.S. along Texas’ border with Mexico. As executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, she directs efforts to provide shelter, food, sanctuary and comfort to people often treated as less than human. Her organization has housed and assisted well over 100,000 people at the border,” says former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro. “Her work has taken on greater importance in the era of Donald Trump, and for good reason. As he has acted with cruelty toward migrants, she has acted with compassion. As he has preyed on the vulnerable and sought rejection, she has preached community and acceptance. As he has promoted fear, she has taught love.
Gabriela Cámara is being recognized for being “more than a chef—she is a Renaissance woman on the front lines of our industry,” writes chef Jose Andres about the Mexican chef.
Through her visionary career, Camara has become one of Mexico’s leading culinary diplomats, both in spirit and in practice.
“Not only does she run two of the most iconic kitchens on the continent—Contramar in Mexico City and Cala in San Francisco—offering the very best of her cultural heritage, she is also an adviser to the Mexican President, showing by example how food can have an impact far beyond the walls of a restaurant kitchen,” continues Andres.
The first trailer has been released for the climate change documentary The Great Green Wall, which is being executive-produced by the 63-year-old Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter.
Fronted by Malian-French singer and activist Inna Modjaand backed by the United Nations, the film focuses on the ongoing Africa-led project to grow an 8,000km wall of trees and plants across the width of the continent. The initiative will stretch from Senegal to Djibouti and is meant to provide food and jobs to millions.
The film, described as “Buena Vista Social Club meets Years of Living Dangerously”, follows Modja across Africa as she assembles leading musicians and singers to record an album that captures the spirit of the Wall, which once completed will be the largest living structure on earth, three times the size of the Great Barrier Reef.
The film is directed by Jared P. Scott, whose previous docs The Age of Consequences and Requiem for the American Dream debuted at HotDocsand the Tribeca Film Festival, respectively.
Former BBC investigative journalist Sarah Macdonald, who won a BAFTA for her work at nightly news show Newsnight, produces for Make Productions. Alexander Asen is executive producer for the UN’s Convention to Combat Desertification, which itself is a co-producer on the film.
The 36-year-old Cuban American rapper, the global star whose entertainment ventures stretch from music and concerts to television production and hosting to a Las Vegas act, has inked with William Morris Endeavor (WME).
Pitbull, born Armando Christian Perez, also will take his motivational speaking platform worldwide via his new agency.
The Grammy-winning artist released his 10th album, Climate Change, in March. He has 70 million single sales and 6 million album sales in his career, and is co-headlining his next tour with Enrique Iglesias beginning in June. In July, resumes his Vegas residency at the Axis at Planet Hollywood.
In anticipation of the 35-year-old Cuban American rap superstar’s upcoming album Climate Change, Fuse is planning to air a half-hour special on Pitbull’s worldwide success.
During the special, Pitbull will talk about some of the tracks on the multicultural LP, due October 7, and a possible world tour in 2017.
Billboard has exclusively premiering a teaser of Pitbull: Beyond Worldwide, in which Mr. Worldwide shares the inspiration behind his new song “Can’t Have.” The special is set to air October 4.
In another clip from the special, Pitbull teases an upcoming world tour with frequent collaborator and pop star Enrique Iglesias.
“Look out for a world tour coming up with Enrique and Pitbull next year.”
This wouldn’t be the first time the two hit the road together: Pit and Iglesias toured the U.S. in 2014-15 with J Balvin as opening act.
Lears’ follow-up to her breakthrough film Knock Down the House documents young progressive activists and Ocasio-Cortez in their relentless effort to engineer major action combatting climate change.
