Owning The Weather

Description

Accolades

U.N. Climate Summit Featured Film
Official Selection Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

Synopsis

The weather might be the most important thing to humankind. It affects our moods, what clothes we wear, what foods we eat and how we live. Despite centuries of scientific victories that have enabled us to exert some control and “air condition” the elements out of our lives, we may never escape the weather.

The desire to modify the weather has been around forever; but the threat of catastrophic climate change, water wars, and intensifying hurricanes, a new breed of weather control emerged.

Mixing character-driven verité with the scope of an essay film, OWNING THE WEATHER tells the story of weather modification in the United States, from Charles Hatfield’s infamous rainmaking days to modern plans to engineer the climate.

There are more than fifty active weather modification programs in the United States alone. Through the eyes of key individuals on the front lines of a crucial but largely unknown debate, the film introduces the cloud seeders struggling for mainstream recognition, the “legitimate” scientists who doubt them, and the activists who decry any attempts to mess with Mother Nature.

Will the scientific renegades in the weather modification community ever shed the label of “snake-oil-salesman”? Will they succeed in securing government funding for the first time in decades? What does it mean to our society and our consciousness if there are no more acts of God?

Traversing vast ethical, political, and social currents, the film asks the question, “will we have to own the weather to save the planet?”

Director

Robert Greene has directed, edited and shot award-winning films that have been shown around the world. An Omar Broadway Film, which Robert produced, edited, and shot, was accepted into the World Documentary Competition category at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. It was subsequently picked up by HBO, where it will premiere in 2010. All In The Poker Movie, also produced, edited, and shot by Robert, premiered at CineVegas 2009 and took home the jury prize for best documentary. His latest feature-length
documentary project, Kati with an I, is an intimate portrait of a girl’s emotional transformation over the three days leading up to her high school graduation.

Before concentrating on long-form documentaries, Robert had five different short films and documentaries shown at festivals, including the New York and Chicago Underground Film Festivals and the Portland Documentary and Experimental Film Festival. His short, Sports: A 12 Part History, was screened at over ten festivals worldwide.

The documentary he edited, La Lucha Se Hace, was featured at the 2002 New York Expo. Also in 2002, Robert was given his first one-person show of short films at the Millennium in New York. Until 2006 his new work was featured every six months at the Millennium. Robert also edited the award-winning theatrical documentary Anytown, USA.

Robert is currently Post-Production Supervisor and Documentary Producer at 4th Row Films. He has edited, shot, and directed over 500 marketing and branding films for several Fortune 500 companies. Robert has also edited dozens of film and television promos for 4th Row Films development, including promos for the hit MTV show The X-Effect and the documentary Making the Boys.