FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 9, 2021

CONTACT: Joshua Pribanic (Co-director), Melissa Troutman (Co-director), joshua@publicherald.org, melissa@publicherald.org, 419-202-8503, 724-388-0464

On March 13, ten organizations around the globe will present a Youth International Screening of the award-winning Rights of Nature documentary, INVISIBLE HAND, from Executive Director Mark Ruffalo and Directors Joshua Boaz Pribanic and Melissa Troutman.

“What this documentary is offering the youth is a way forward through Rights of Nature,” says Ruffalo. “You hear time and time again that a corporation has the rights of a person. The idea that Nature has no rights whatsoever is absurd.”

Anyone wishing to attend should reserve their tickets at: https://invisiblehandfilm.com/yis (tickets will be free for anyone but adults are encouraged to donate). The film starts at 1:00 p.m. EDT on the day of the screening, with the youth panel beginning at 2:45. Audiences will have the opportunity to discuss the latest Rights of Nature ideas with Mark Ruffalo, youth leaders, The Pearl School, and filmmakers.

“Indigenous people have been advocating for Rights of Nature since time immemorial,” says Sadie Olsen from We R Native/White Swan Environmental, an event partner, who wants to highlight indigenous legacy to the audience at the event. “It’s exciting to be able to advocate for the health of this generation and for the seventh generation for sustainability.”

“INVISIBLE HAND opens a door. It shows how all communities could take a new path to create an economy and government that honors Nature’s Rights,” says the film’s co-director Joshua Boaz Pribanic. “Everyone should see this film to think about how Rights of Nature could be a chance to heal our genocidal history, and to stop the ecocide of capitalism.”

Hana Begovic of Earth Advocacy Youth is one of the ten speakers for the event and points out that, “If we want to change the system, we must change the narrative.” Lauren Tarr of the GARN Youth Hub adds to this urgency for change, “We cannot solve environmental problems using the same anthropocentric values that created them.

“Our legal system is rigged to commodify Nature, to favor private property above Life,” says co-director Melissa Troutman. “It’s a system that makes it perfectly legal to harm innocent people without their consent and threaten the survival of the planet.”

For Anastasia Swenia Körner at OtherWise Wageningen, “Giving rights to Nature is the most sensible next step towards a green future.”

And Sarah O’Mahony from Polluters Out says she wants to talk with audiences on March 13 about how, “Climate justice means justice for everyone, for people, Nature, and every living being on our planet.”

Alexandrea Flanders of the Great Plains Action Society forewarns, “If we aren’t able to step up and protect our land and natural resources, then we shouldn’t be allowed to harvest from it either.”

For Michelle Bender at Earth Law Center, she’s hoping the youth attend the event to discuss how, “to transform our legal and governance systems to recognize that we are in a reciprocal relationship with each other and the Earth, and we have responsibilities to respect and protect that which sustains us.”

After seeing the film, Nikki Pitre (Coeur d’Alene Tribe), Executive Director of the Center for Native American Youth, said, “INVISIBLE HAND is a powerful tool that can educate and engage youth on the Rights of Nature and the importance of protecting Mother Earth.”

The Youth International Screening event is being presented by: Greenpeace, GARN Youth Hub, Earth Advocacy Youth, Youth vs. Apocalypse, Center for Native American Youth, Whiteswan Environmental, Polluters Out, Great Plains Action Society, OtherWise Wageningen, Earth Law Center, and hosted by Public Herald Studios on behalf of The Pearl Remote Democractic High School. Part of proceeds will go to The Pearl scholarship where students benefit from being part of a dynamic international learning community while being supported by mentors, educators, and professionals.

• Youth International Screening Tickets 

• Film Reviews 

• Trailer & Images 

Full Quotes from our Screening Partners: 

Indigenous people have been advocating for Rights of Nature since time immemorial. It’s exciting to be able to advocate for the health of this generation and for the seventh generation for sustainability. It’s only recently this idea became a political movement. Our ancestors have always been thinking for seven generations. Sadie Olsen (Kwaslmut), We R Native/White Swan Environmental

In many countries and human cultures around the world, non-human living systems are seen as human-owned objects whose reason for existence is to be commodified, exploited and used for human benefit and economic profit. This is today’s dominant narrative, permeating almost all spaces in which economic and political power is fostered. By maintaining this dichotomy built upon anthropocentric violence against other life on Earth, humanity is contributing to irreversible collapse of ecosystems. So, if we want to change the system, we must change the narrative. Only when we understand and respect the non-linear and interconnected Nature of Earth’s web of life will we be able to bring forth a new paradigm that restores the delicate balance of the Earth. Hana Begovic, Earth Advocacy Youth

Climate justice means justice for everyone, for people, Nature, and every living being on our planet. As humans, we have the power to create devastating harm, but also the power to protect and respect our home and those around us. We need to speak up and take action to stop those who exploit and harm people and Nature. In the same way that every child has the right to be protected and to flourish, Nature should also have this right. We must strive to educate ourselves and do what we can to ensure safety and protection for all living things on Earth. Sarah O’Mahony, Polluters Out

We may not be able to choose where we are born and how our circumstances let us connect to the natural world when we grow up, but we all have the power to decide how we want to live together and as a part of Nature every single day. Giving rights to Nature is the most sensible next step towards a green future. For future generations to flourish, we need a flourishing environment. How can we live together with Nature, in a society that has lost its own place in it? An ecosystem, with all its intricate and wondrous connections, has a right to flourish and be free of negligent and polluting destruction. Anastasia Swenia Körner, OtherWise Wageningen

We cannot solve environmental problems using the same anthropocentric values that created them. Centuries of treating Nature as property has brought us to a point of climate crisis, mass extinctions, and unsustainable resource consumption. We cannot continue on that path. Sustainability requires us to recognize and defend Nature’s intrinsic right to exist. The Rights of Nature movement advances the ecocentric paradigm shift we desperately need. Lauren Tarr, GARN Youth Hub 

Invisible Hand highlights approaches within, and related to, the global Rights of Nature movement. This ever-evolving movement falls within the body of Earth law, which seeks to transform our legal and governance systems to recognize that we are in a reciprocal relationship with each other and the Earth, and we have responsibilities to respect and protect that which sustains us. In order to reverse the global environmental crisis, we need transformational change in not only our economy, society and legal systems, but our values and ethics that underlie these systems. Legal rights for nature is one way to do so. Michelle Bender, Ocean Campaigns Director, Earth Law Center; Executive Committee, Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature; and Member of the IUCN’s World Commission on Environmental Law

Within the last few centuries, humanity has evolved, and the earth has changed with it. From the purest form of water to the wasteland on our planet, this is our unfortunate reality. If we aren’t able to step up and protect our land and natural resources, then we shouldn’t be allowed to harvest from it either. The Rights of Nature is something that Indigenous peoples have always stood by, and it’s time that the rest of the world wakes up and does the same. The Invisible Hand provides excellent stories and experiences of people banding together to protect their surroundings. Alexandrea Flanders, Great Plains Action Society

Indigenous peoples share a spiritual, cultural, and social connection to their traditional lands. This deep connection to Mother Earth reflects both an attachment to the land and inherent responsibility for preserving it for future generations. Invisible Hand highlights this relationship by sharing powerful stories of Indigenous communities’ efforts to protect one of our greatest gifts: the land and its natural resources. The film expands on the Rights of Nature movement and its commonalities with Indigenous worldviews. Invisible Hand is a powerful tool that can educate and engage youth on the Rights of Nature and the importance of protecting Mother Earth. For future generations to thrive, we must empower them to advance this critical movement and protect Mother Earth.  Nikki Pitre (Coeur d’Alene Tribe), Executive Director, Center for Native American Youth