ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE

Directed by Helena Marschall (Germany)

Climate Activism

Climate activist Helena Marschall, 20, takes us into a youth-led movement in Germany to get political leaders to act. And they are listening.

At a fragile time, when inaction seems to bring us closer to an irreversible climate reality, young people are mobilizing to reverse global warming. ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE follows the work of Helena, who leaves no doubt that urgent action is imperative. But she also offers hope, and a roadmap to impactful activism.

Helena organized one of Germany’s first school strikes for the cause. Now 20, she coordinates strategies and national campaigns for Fridays for Future Germany when not studying economics at Leuphana University in Lüneburg. Fridays for Future emerged as a grassroots movement after teen activist Greta Thunberg held up a “School Strike for Climate” sign in 2018 at the Swedish parliament. Strikers in hundreds of cities have followed Greta’s example, skipping Friday classes to go out to spur environmental awareness.

Germany has hosted some of the world’s largest Fridays for Future protests. In the biggest one, in 2021, Greta Thunberg led more than 100,000 marchers through the streets of Berlin. Helena’s film takes us there.

Young activists also regularly protest in Lützerath, an epicenter of coal extraction, where Helena talks to fellow activists while they protest plans to bulldoze the village to expand a lignite mine. Such protests are bearing tangible results.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

“The climate crisis seems big and scary, and as young people we often feel powerless. I’ve found that when we come together, we can rise up and truly transform the world. This film tells that story. Every day I’m inspired by the activists around me and what we have accomplished, and I hope that sharing that with a wider audience, with Anja’s help, will allow more people to recognize their power and join us in pushing for change.”
—Helena Marschall

MENTOR’S STATEMENT

“Watching Helena and her fellow activists hard at work to protect this planet has been an eye-opening experience. Thanks to their unyielding commitment, willpower and stamina, impressive change has already started to happen. It is our hope that audiences will not only connect to the case for change laid out before them but embrace it passionately. It’s hard to resist this film’s urgent call to action.”
—Anja Baron