Film review – ‘2040’ by Damon Gameau

The award winning Damon Gameau’s visual letter to his daughter

My husband recommended I watch 2040.  He thought it would give me some inspiration for letters to our daughters.  Although it piqued my interest for other reasons, I wasn’t sure how it connected until I read the synopsis:

‘Award-winning director Damon Gameau embarks on a journey to explore what the future would look like by the year 2040 if we simply embraced the best solutions already available to us to improve our planet and shifted them into the mainstream.

Structured as a visual letter to his 4-year-old daughter, Damon blends traditional documentary footage with dramatized sequences and high-end visual effects to create a vision board for his daughter and the planet.’

Watch the trailer:

Structured as a visual letter to his daughter – what a lovely idea.  It captured me instantly.  So, I watched. 

It is a beautifully created documentary that flips from current day to a vision of what a 2040 world could look like for Velvet (Gameau’s daughter) if we made good decisions now.

Gameau calls his quest to educate us to save the planet ‘Fact-based dreaming’; the idea that all the solutions we need to make a difference already exist.

At each point, he explores the solution (decentralised energy sharing, regenerative agriculture, on demand driverless vehicles, wild farming of the oceans) and then fast forwards to Velvet’s new existence in a world where we have taken action.

The big idea

What really captured me is the ‘big idea’ at the end.  Educating Girls and family planning.  There are some ‘food for thought moments’ that explore how women, and in particular the next generation, could be at the heart of real change.

Experts discuss the theory that if we empower girls to be who they want to be, the world will see incredible benefits. 

65 million girls across the globe do not get an education.  When we educate our girls and empower them to be what they want, they delay having children and have fewer when they are ready. This slows down population growth, reduces pressures/competition to access a whole range of resources and their children are more likely to stay in school longer.  Over time, this breaks the cycle of poverty.  It is described as ‘a form of family planning’.

I was quiet for a while after this I had a little cry.  I know I won’t change all my practices, but I will try and will continue to advocate for educating girls.  

I’d highly recommend watching this.  

You can rent/purchase it from Amazon Prime.