The Letter, a feature-length documentary that sets out to inspire a generation to 'care for our common home', will be premiered later today at the Vatican in Rome – and FaithInvest's Director of Movement Building Dr Lorna Gold and CEO Martin Palmer both appear in it.
The film is inspired by the Pope's ground-breaking 2015 encyclical letter, Laudato Si', which calls on us all to 'hear 'the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor'.
The Letter follows five people from different parts of the world who receive an invitation to visit Pope Francis. They include a climate refugee from Senegal where nearly 80% of peope lie in poverty, a teenage activist from India, two marine biologists from the United States and the leader of an indigenous community in Brazil, who has been kidnapped and tortured by mercenaries due to his opposition to illegal logging.
They are accompanied on their trip to the Vatican by FaithInvest's Lorna Gold, who is also Chair of the Laudato Si' Movement which is behind the project. 'By sharing how Laudato Si' has inspired so many people around the world, we want to bring a message of hope that we can come together to care for our common home,' said Lorna.
'We also want to highlight the crucial role being played by faith communities across the world in taking action to address the climate crisis. As Pope Francis says in his opening lines, 'I wish to address every person living on this planet', and that is very much the approach taken by the film. We all need to come together to save the planet.'
Produced by YouTube Originals in partnership with the Laudato Si' Movement and Off the Fence (Oscar-winning producers of My Octopus Teacher), the 80-minute film aims to share the core messages of Laudato Si' in a compelling way for modern audiences.
Director Nicholas Brown said making the film opened his own eyes to the urgency of the climate crisis: 'During the shooting of the film, we became a family united by the greatest challenge that humanity has, the fight against the climate crisis.'
The film has been released on YouTube. You can watch it via this YouTube link.
People are invited to host screenings in their communities. You can register to host a screening and a how-to toolkit will be provided to help you.
More information from the dedicated website: www.theletterfilm.org