Blind Spot

Synopsis

In this haunting portrait of America's oil-fueled excesses, director Adolfo Doring explores the inextricable link between the energy we use, the way we run our economy, and the multiplying threats that now confront the environmental health and stability of our planet. Taking as its starting point the inevitable energy depletion scenario known as "Peak Oil," the film surveys a fascinating range of the latest intellectual, political, and scientific thought to make the case that by whatever measure of greed, wishful thinking, neglect, or ignorance, we now find ourselves at a disturbing crossroads: we can continue to burn fossil fuels and witness the collapse of our ecology, or we can choose not to and witness the collapse of our economy. Refusing to whitewash this reality, Blind Spot issues a call to action, urging us to face up to the perilous situation we now find ourselves in so that we might begin to envision a realistic, if inconvenient, way out. Certain to inspire debate in classrooms across a range of disciplines, especially in economics, environmental studies, the natural sciences, and political science.

Release Date:2009

Duration:54 Mins

ISBN:1-932869-34-4

Subtitles:English

Trailers

Watch the trailer

Filmmaker Credits

Director

Adolfo Doring

Producer

Amanda Zackem

Executive Producer

Randall Wallace

Executive Producer

David Gil

Original Score

Randall Wallace

Cinematography

Adolfo Doring

Screenings

International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology 2010

Conference Screenings

International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology 2010

Resources: Downloads and Related Links

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Praise

"Doubtless Peak Oil will come, the timing is a matter of debate. However we may be better off if it is not too long delayed, because it will accelerate what must be done to prevent environmental catastrophe."

Noam Chomsky

"The next few decades aren't going to look like the last few -- not at all. And the sooner we come to terms with that, the better. This documentary is a good place to start."

Bill McKibben
Author of The End of Nature

"Beautiful, crucial, straightforward, brilliantly woven images, words and music."

John Stauber
Author of Toxic Sludge Is Good For You

"If we lived in a rational world, inhabited by rational human beings, viewing Blind Spot would be a mandatory prerequisite to taking any federal oath of office in the coming year. Were that to happen, there might be hope that the USA would resume world leadership and our renewed influence would be used to redirect ourselves and the world away from the unsustainable path upon which we plummeted along throughout the 20th century, mistakenly regarding the adventure as unmitigated progress."

William R. Catton
Author of Overshoot

"The world is saying look you have a choice, you can either fix it or I can fix it, and if I fix it you are not going to like it because I'm going to throw everything away. And everything means most of us."

Derrick Jensen
Author of Endgame

"A fascinating documentary, it draws on some of the most impressive scientific minds to warn us about the dangers of our dependence on oil and educate us about our role in saving the earth and the lives of our children. I was transfixed by it."

Howard Zinn
Author of You Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train

"Blind Spot rides currents of beauty and sadness, ultimately landing with a catharsis that comes when truth has been told."

Jason Bradford
Founder of Willits Economic Localization

Press Reviews

"A thought provoking documentary that will inspire viewers to seek out additional information and consider the importance of seeking alternatives to continued levels of oil usage. This documentary would be useful for classroom discussions in high school and college classrooms. Highly Recommended."
- Educational Media Reviews Online

"Blind Spot, an intellectually dense, but utterly gorgeous, look at mankind's dangerous obsession with fossil fuel, blames the whole world for its wastefulness. Although at times overbearingly verbose, Adolfo Doring's astute, thoughtful portrait has enough sweeping visuals to offset the barrage of scientific talking heads. In other words, it makes An Inconvenient Truth look like a sitcom."
- Indiewire

"There's a lot of environmental films out there that while not painting a rosy picture still want us to feel a sense of 'hey things will still be ok.' Not so with Blind Spot. Director Adolfo Doring has, along with many of the scientists, economists and other experts, wisely decided that the time for coddling us is past, perhaps even too long past. This absolutely beautifully shot ode to the end of our world as we have known it doesn't even bother to try and convince us. Either you see the visual beauty of this world, city and country, and want to save it or you don't. Either you hear and heed the wisdom of the cadre of experts he presents or you don't. There is no panic in this film -- just an absolute and stark reality that we either choose to face or not."
- Albany Times Union