David: Tomorrow Tuesday is broadcast on M6, the new film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Legacy, our heritage.
François: Yes, this heritage is the Earth that carries each of us. Each generation receives it as a gift for its life and also to pass it on as a gift to subsequent generations.
This new film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand is first and foremost an ode to the beauty of nature and humanity. It’s easy to imagine such an anthem when you know the talents of the photographer who, since the early 1970s, with his ecological commitment, has been magnifying the Earth on our screens.
David: What motivates Yann Arthus-Bertrand?
François: Through all his art, he wants to express his love for the Planet, but he also warns against anything that disfigures it because of our destructive impacts. Life on Earth is threatened, the survival of human beings in the short term. We remember the film Home in 2009 where the photographer showed the pressure that human beings impose on the environment and the harmful consequences this has on climate change and other vital processes such as biodiversity. The degradation of the conditions of habitability of the Earth is a reality. However, Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s film did not present itself as a disaster film but as a message of hope because it believes in the tremendous capacity of human beings “to create and help each other”.
This message of hope is also reminiscent of the magnificent photographs that accompany the encyclical Laudato Si, joining Pope Francis in the invitation to profoundly change our behavior and convert our economic and political logic in favor of human beings and the environment.
David: So what does Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s new film add?
François: If the photographer is getting involved again in this documentary on our heritage, it’s because it’s not too late to act: “it’s now that we have to do it” he underlines in GoodPlanet mag’ (January 22, 2021). But his emphasis is first on the question of personal responsibility. He admits how much he tries, as he can, to manage his contradictions, and this is the case for each of us, I think. In everything we consume for food, transport, habitat… “we are faced with our own inconsistencies, and it is we who decide all that with our free will” he continues. So we all need to be educated on these crucial issues.
David: In this, the film Legacy to be seen tomorrow evening on M6 is undoubtedly a good educational tool and a great life lesson for all of us.
