Surviving Progress
Nov 04, 2011 | IMDB 7.3
86 min Watch NowDocumentary
Humanity’s ascent is often measured by the speed of progress. But what if progress is actually spiraling us downwards, towards collapse? Ronald Wright, whose best-seller, “A Short History Of Progress” inspired “Surviving Progress”, shows how past civilizations were destroyed by “progress traps”—alluring technologies and belief systems that serve immediate needs, but ransom the future. As pressure on the world’s resources accelerates and financial elites bankrupt nations, can our globally-entwined civilization escape a final, catastrophic progress trap? With potent images and illuminating insights from thinkers who have probed our genes, our brains, and our social behaviour, this requiem to progress-as-usual also poses a challenge: to prove that making apes smarter isn’t an evolutionary dead-end.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Roger & Me
An Inconvenient Truth
Raising Joey
The Scavengers
The Singularity
A Tale of Two Lands
A Brief History of Time
Tiananmen: The People Versus the Party
Grizzly Man
Mururoa 1973
The King of Fish and Chips
Tar Creek
Minimum Wages: The New Economy
Paris to Pittsburgh
Rewilding a Nation
Who Loves the Sun
Mother Earth
Insecticide, mon amour
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
Is the Crown at war with us?
SIMILAR MOVIES
Roger & Me
IMDB 7.1 | Sep , 1989
A documentary about the closure of General Motors' plant at Flint, Michigan, which resulted in the loss of 30,000 jobs. Details the attempts of filmmaker Michael Moore to get an interview with GM CEO Roger Smith.An Inconvenient Truth
IMDB 7 | May , 2006
A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.Raising Joey
IMDB 0 | Dec , 2020
The fires that have devastated Australia left behind countless injured and orphaned animals. This is the story of rescued joeys and their adoption by human carers. World-renowned animal photographer and advocate for rescued animals, Alex Cearns OAM, leads us into the quirky world of kangaroo care in this heart-warming journey that sheds light on the work of Wildlife Care WA Inc.The Scavengers
IMDB 8 | Jan , 1993
In this documentary Coutinho examines the plight of the people who live off the waste of the Brazilian cities. These people make their living by scavenging the immense urban garbage dumps searching for whatever they can find to sell as well as whatever they can find to eat.The Singularity
IMDB 7.5 | Nov , 2012
Within the coming decades we will be able to create AIs with greater than human intelligence, bio-engineer our species and re-design matter through nanotechnology. How will these technologies change what it means to be human? Director Doug Wolens speaks with leading futurists, computer scientists, artificial intelligence experts, and philosophers who turn over the question like a Rubik’s Cube. Ultimately, if we become more machine-like, and machines more like us, will we sacrifice our humanity to gain something greater? Or will we engineer our own demise? THE SINGULARITY is a comprehensive and insightful documentary film that examines technology’s accelerating rate, and deftly addresses the resulting moral questions.A Tale of Two Lands
IMDB 0 | Oct , 2016
Palm oil development in Liberia told through three interweaving stories. Bacchus works slashing the fields at a palm oil plantation.Lee, a local farmer, is fighting to keep his land. David is running the palm oil company.A Brief History of Time
IMDB 7.2 | Oct , 1991
This shows physicist Stephen Hawking's life as he deals with the ALS that renders him immobile and unable to speak without the use of a computer. Hawking's friends, family, classmates, and peers are interviewed not only about his theories but the man himself.Tiananmen: The People Versus the Party
IMDB 8 | Jun , 2019
The true story of the seven weeks that changed China forever. On June 4, 1989, pro-democracy demonstrations were violently and bloodily repressed. Thousands of people died, but the basis for China's future was definitely planted.Grizzly Man
IMDB 7.5 | Jul , 2005
Werner Herzog's documentary film about the "Grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell and what the thirteen summers in a National Park in Alaska were like in one man's attempt to protect the grizzly bears. The film is full of unique images and a look into the spirit of a man who sacrificed himself for nature.Mururoa 1973
IMDB 0 | Oct , 1973
In 1973 Alister Barry joined the crew of a protest boat (The Fri) to Mururoa Atoll, where the French Government were testing nuclear weapons. Barry records the assembly of the crew, the long journey from Northland, and their reception in the test zone; when The Fri was boarded and impounded by French military he had to hide his camera in a barrel of oranges.The King of Fish and Chips
IMDB 0 | Aug , 2019
In the late 1960s, Haddon Salt built a fast-food empire. Then Kentucky Fried Chicken came knocking.Tar Creek
IMDB 9 | Aug , 2009
Tar Creek is an environmentally devastated area in northeastern Oklahoma with acidic creeks, stratospheric lead poisoning and enormous sinkholes. Nearly 30 years after being designated as a Superfund cleanup program, residents are still struggling.Minimum Wages: The New Economy
IMDB 0 | Jan , 1992
Bill Moyers takes a piercing look at how global economic changes are destroying the lives and livelihoods of hardworking Americans. The documentary follows several individuals and their families in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as they fight to make ends meet in the “new economy.” In sheer numbers, more jobs were created than lost in America during the last decade, but a look behind those numbers reveals a shortage of jobs that pay enough to support a family. The program intimately portrays the lives of workers and their families as they struggle to make it in today’s job market.Paris to Pittsburgh
IMDB 6.7 | Dec , 2018
Paris to Pittsburgh brings to life the impassioned efforts of individuals who are battling the most severe threats of climate change in their own backyards. Set against the national debate over the United States' energy future - and the Trump administration's explosive decision to exit the Paris Climate Agreement - the film captures what's at stake for communities around the country and the inspiring ways Americans are responding.Rewilding a Nation
IMDB 0 | Dec , 2023
Robi Watkinson and Emma Hodson travel across Britain and the Netherlands documenting the story of the rewilding movement from its inception, to the return of the beaver, bison and perhaps one day, the lynx to Britain.Who Loves the Sun
IMDB 0 | Aug , 2024
In war-torn northern Syria, WHO LOVES THE SUN delves into the world of makeshift oil refineries and the stark realities of life within this post-apocalyptic landscape. Mahmood is a prominent figure in these operations, navigating harsh working conditions and complex local dynamics.Mother Earth
IMDB 0 | Jan , 1991
This short documentary is a celebration of life on planet Earth. Made from haunting visual images selected from 50 years of NFB productions, the film looks at human beings, their place on earth, and their deep interconnection with all other beings. Evocations of forces that threaten the planet and all its inhabitants also offer avenues for reflection.Insecticide, mon amour
IMDB 9.5 | Nov , 2015
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
IMDB 6.6 | Jul , 2017
A decade after An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change into the heart of popular culture comes the riveting and rousing follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution. Vice President Al Gore continues his tireless fight, traveling around the world training an army of climate champions and influencing international climate policy. Cameras follow him behind the scenes—in moments private and public, funny and poignant—as he pursues the empowering notion that while the stakes have never been higher, the perils of climate change can be overcome with human ingenuity and passion.Is the Crown at war with us?
IMDB 6.5 | Sep , 2003
In the summer of 2000, federal fishery officers appeared to wage war on the Mi'gmaq fishermen of Burnt Church, New Brunswick. Why would officials of the Canadian government attack citizens for exercising rights that had been affirmed by the highest court in the land? Alanis Obomsawin casts her nets into history to provide a context for the events on Miramichi Bay.