Bag It!

Finished in May 2010, Bag It is currently screening on National Public Television as well as being hosted by grassroots community organizers around the world.

Try going a day without plastic. Plastic is everywhere and infiltrates our lives in unimaginable and frightening ways. In this touching and often flat-out-funny film, we follow “everyman” Jeb Berrier, who is admittedly not a tree hugger, as he embarks on a global tour to unravel the complexities of our plastic world. What starts as a film about plastic bags evolves into a wholesale investigation into plastic and its effect on our waterways, oceans, and even our own bodies. We see how our crazy-for-plastic world has finally caught up to us and what we can do about it. Today. Right now.

"Bag It“ focuses on the waste recycling in the U.S. and is therefore presumably rather inappropriate for public screenings in Switzerland. "Bag It“ treats the same issue as Boote’s "Plastic Planet". We would recommend Plastic Planet for public screenings since it contains more scientific aspects.

"Bag It“ is a very entertaining film - unfortunately, neither very intelligent nor very inspiring.

In terms of content, the film convinces primarily in explaining correlations and contexts within a highly relevant issue. By showing good interviews and taking into account different perspectives, the film draws many connections to our daily lives and offers solutions and positive examples. The journalistic research and performance are moderate, the treated issue is already known.

Even though, the impact of human activities on our natural environment is presented well, the transfer of knowledge and information on the whole is rather small.

"Bag It“ is very touching, emotionally involving, motivates us to take action and raises our sense of responsibility. However, the waste recycling is handled differently in the U.S. than it is in Switzerland. Some contents therefore can not be transferred.

The film is not very entertaining but well structured, the soundtrack appropriate. The images and scenes fit well with the content. Cut and esthetic quality are moderate, the camerawork not worth mentioning.

Links & documents

• Official Website

Attachements

• Schulunterlagen (EN)
• Presseheft (EN)
• Schulwettbewerb (EN)

You can also view it for a fee at:

• Amazon
• iTunes