Ctrl Meets Emily James

Emily James is the director of 'Just Do it', a new and innovative film which follows the activities of several environmental direct action groups across the UK. She is widely renowned for her groundbreaking work, has made a variety of films for Channel 4, and was the executive producer of 'The Age of Stupid.' Ctrl.Alt.Shift's Lucy Ireland caught up with her to talk activism, direct action and climate chaos...

Your film ‘Just Do It’ follows three groups of climate activists. What are your personal views on climate change and global warming?
It's impossible to state the size of the problem without understatement, it's almost tempting to be flippant about it but we really must resist that. It’s a problem of such a great scale that will dominate the rest of our lives.

''Just Do It' covers how people prepare for actions, the effort that goes into them, as well as the slightly comedic pitfalls they hit'

Why is climate change such an important issue to you personally?
I suppose I've always been somebody for whom justice was an important concern and looking back on that it's been a theme that has run through my life, wanting to build a more just world.

How do you hope that people will be inspired by watching Just Do It?
It isn't a film in which people do a lot of sitting around talking about issues, it's an action film. There have been a lot of documentary films that lay out a serious, problematic issue, and you get to the end of the film and you're thinking ‘great, the world is up the creek without a paddle.’ I'm hoping that with ‘Just Do It’ people will be treated to an hour and a half of exciting direct action: it covers how people prepare for actions, the effort that goes into them, as well as the slightly comedic pitfalls they hit. We hope that the film will inspire the audience to do whatever they have been sitting on the fence and not doing for ages. Most people have a little list in the back of their heads of the things that they might like to do to help make the world be a better place... but they haven't necessarily got around to believing its worth doing.

Do you think that more people should get involved? For those who aren't quite ready for chaining themselves to railings , where could they start?
I am a supporter of direct action and I think it can have a big effect on raising awareness. Having said that, it’s only one part of the bigger picture when it comes to achieving real change. Not everyone is prepared to chain themselves to an airplane or to break into the houses of parliament, but the people willing to do that need support. If you find yourself sitting idly by, watching these injustices occur infront of you, it’s actually quite upsetting, doesn’t make you feel good about yourself.  If there was an active, vocal, supportive community of people every time green peace or climate camp did a major action who were out there boldly supporting them, these movements would grow, and become even more powerful.

The Guardian recently said that you will, in time, be revered as a television innovator. How important do you think television is as a tool to inform and inspire young people?
Film making has always been about communicating for me, especially with the younger generation. I've been thinking that I'd really like the film to reach a young woman growing up in North Korea, somebody in a completely different place; the film is not just about climate change. It’s more universal than that: it’s about  a different way of looking at the world.

'I am a supporter of direct action and I think it can have a big effect on raising awareness. Having said that, it’s only one part of the bigger picture when it comes to achieving real change'

A big part of Ctrl.Alt.Shift is volunteering; a lot of our contributors are volunteers. Ever done any volunteering work of your own?
All of my volunteer time gets poured into the films that I'm making. I haven't done it in an organised, institutional way.

So what would you say to someone who’s considering getting involved in volunteer work?
We have a lot of volunteers on  ‘Just Do It’. A theme which has been discussed again and again is how different it feels to be putting your time into something simply because you believe in it.

What is the closest you’ve come to experiencing poverty?
I'm quite lucky as most people in this country are. I made a film called ‘The luckiest nut in the world’ for channel 4, and in some ways ‘the luckiest nut’ was like me. It was a film that I made as I was working through my own feelings around the fact that, as an educated middle class woman born in America and living in England, I had lots of advantages simply because of where I was born and who I was born to. I guess I felt a bit guilty about that. When I took the decision to make ‘Just Do It’ independently, I had to make the decision to be pretty broke for quite a long time. I can take a risk on that, because I have the security of knowing that ultimately I'll be taken care of, though most people in the world don't have that safety net. Those of us who have been brought up in advantaged circumstances need to remember that we're in a privileged position, and we need to take the right risks with it. The activist movement is often attacked for being too 'middle class', but a lot of middle class people get involved because they have the time to do so. If you're really suffering from poverty, activism is a difficult thing to participate in.

'The activist movement is often attacked for being too 'middle class', but a lot of middle class people get involved because they have the time to do so. If you're really suffering from poverty, activism is a difficult thing to participate in'

What single thing do you think would improve the world?
For people to stop exploiting each other.

What is the trait you most dislike in yourself?
I think that I could often be more patient. I always want things to happen now and that doesn't necessarily make them happen faster.

What is the trait you most dislike in others?
I was going to say selfishness, but ultimately we're all pretty selfish. Also anti-intellectualism; people who aren't interested in thinking about something properly, and have an emotional or knee-jerk reaction to an issue. I find the anti-rational perspective to be frustrating.

What is the most important lesson that life has taught you so far?
My mother always taught me, and I think this is very true, not be afraid of failure. It has definitely proven to be true in my life that if you don't try at all you ultimately feel even worse. 

Words: Lucy Ireland

Photos: Kristian Buus and Minnie Mouse

To read more about 'Just Do It' Click here [1]

To participate in Ctrl.Alt.Shift's climate action click here [2]