Call of Life

 USA 2008 Screening time 6 pm 24 May & 4pm on 5 June (89 mins)

A fascinating and informative film, Call of Life provides an unusually rigorous, in-depth analysis of the importance of biological diversity and the devastating consequences of the current, out-of-control extinction rate. Fronted by some of the best-respected, most articulate  names in ecology and environmental science (e.g. Vitousek, Pimm, Leakey, Ehrlich, Meyers) , it should be required viewing for anyone with a vested interest in maintaining the diversity of life on Earth — and that, as the film explains so convincingly, means all of us. Discussions about topics like the psychology of climate change denial, the importance of conserving populations not just species, and how historical changes in religious and spiritual attitudes have influenced reverence for the environment, are interspersed with powerful, brilliantly explained examples — the way the blood of lizards on the West coast of the US protects humans from Lyme disease is a particular gem, leading one to wonder what kinds of protection we might lose before we even know we’re benefiting. Serious, rich and challenging, Call of Life rises far beyond the superficial jeremiads of many environmental documentaries and explores its subject in commendable depth.