"I continue to do it not because I have any hope but because I think it's the right thing to do." Clumsy, activist.

"Finite: The Changing Climate," directed by climate activist filmmaker Rich Felgate, and shown at Abbeygate Cinema on Wednesday 15th November 2023, delivers a compelling narrative that resonates with the urgency of environmental activism. Through the lens of two victories in the battle against open-cast coal mining, the documentary effectively dismantles climate crisis fatigue, urging viewers to confront the helplessness often associated with individual efforts.

In western Germany, one of Europe's largest opencast mines has been constructed in the ancient Hambach forest. The stark contrast between the lush landscape and the empty, scarred wasteland left by open-cast mining is jaw droppingly shocking. The campaigners' community of tree houses, sitting high up among the remaining 10% of trees, accentuates the challenges and the dangers faced by them as they strive to protect what's left of the forest. 

In County Durham, Julia introduces us to her friends and neighbours in High Stables. They have been involved in a decades-long struggle, resisting plans for a new open-cast coal mine in the picturesque Pont Valley. Felgate captures the tension of an all or nothing battle. The members of a makeshift camp set up in the valley, pit their wits against the mining company, the police and the courts, believing that all they have to do is hold the line until the license expires in a few months' time. 

There are moments of hope in the film; the significance of the confirmation of the presence of the Great Crested Newt on the Pont Valley site, will not be lost on seasoned campaigners. But these are eclipsed by the realities of the power of money, greed, brutal scenes of tree destruction, campaigner arrest and despair.

Scenes in which the infrastructure of the camp is repaired and replaced each time the police destroy it are mirrored at both locations. We have an experience, then, of the sense of futility, repetitiveness and the never-ending-ness of this battle. The images of the campaigners starting all over again, finding new ways to thwart and delay the inevitable and at times simply not complying - getting up from where they have been carried by the police officers and walking quietly back to where they were picked up - all serve to illustrate both a hopelessness and a resilience. 

Contrast this with the sight of scores of white hazmat suited campaigners running at full pelt across the scarred landscape, to overwhelm police and breach a boundary fence. And the images of a handful of activists moving with stealth in the night, to cut through fences, climb enormous machinery and set fire to things, Mission Impossible style. 

"Finite: The Changing Climate" emerges as a thought-provoking and impactful documentary, skillfully navigating the complex realities of environmental activism while stirring within us a compelling call to action. Try to see it if you can.