GrowthBusters Named Best Film at 33rd Annual Global Media Awards

Written by Dave Gardner on January 16, 2013. Posted in Blog

Last night I gratefully accepted a Global Media Award for best film or miniseries for my film, GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth. The Global Media Awards are presented annually by the Population Institute to recognize significant contribution to public discussion and understanding of issues related to population growth. I’m thrilled the film is getting this recognition, alongside such honors as being selected to screen at 11 film festivals so far. (Click on photos below to enlarge.)

We had some fun as I thanked two of the smartest sustainable population advocates/experts I know, Population Institute Chair Bill Ryerson and President Bob Walker, for our award. I presented each with a GrowthBusters movie poster. Thanks to the magic of Photoshop, we had replaced me as the lead growthbuster on the posters with Bill and Bob.

The 33^rd Annual Global Media Awards recognized GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth for not only daring to break the taboo on discussing overpopulation, but also shining a spotlight on the taboo and the damage it has done. The issues of population growth, overpopulation and achieving sustainable population levels remain vastly underreported. When they are covered, misassumptions, mischaracterizations and inaccuracies are rampant.

That’s why I was very proud to share the spotlight last night with Global Media Award honoree Kenneth Weiss. A Los Angeles Times staff writer, Ken was honored for his amazing article series Beyond 7 Billion. Weiss and staff photographer Rich Loomis traveled across Africa and Asia to document the causes and consequences of rapid population growth. While the human stories Ken brought to life focused on the lives, prospects, and wellbeing of the 222 million women in the developing world who want to avoid a pregnancy, the series did an outstanding job of communicating accurately the big picture of the many population-related challenges facing the world. Please share this series with acquaintances needing a good primer on the truths about population growth.

At dinner I enjoyed sitting near two other very charming Global Media Awards honorees. British Member of Parliament Richard Ottaway received the Best Essay award for Sex, Ideology and Religion: 10 myths about world population growth. His essay challenges common misunderstandings surrounding family planning and population growth. Like Ken Weiss’ Los Angeles Times series, this is an outstanding quick course on population to share with those suffering from misinformation and misassumptions about overpopulation.

It was great to run into Lisa Hymas, senior editor at Grist. Lisa was there to accept the Best Cartoon/Comic award for 7 Billion, Unpacked. The comic presents good factual population information in a graphic style for those not inclined to read a sea of text. Lisa’s work at Grist has been very helpful in chipping away at the taboo on discussing overpopulation.

You can read about all seven recipients of this year’s Global Media Awards here.

GrowthBusters explores the critical question, “How do we become a sustainable civilization?” The film has been seen in hundreds of locations around the world since initial release late in 2011 – at conferences, film festivals and community screenings. A new, “Final Cut” of the film was released late in 2012. GrowthBusters is available for sale to the public at www.growthbusters.org. More than just a film, GrowthBusters is also a non-profit, public education project of Citizen-Powered Media.

Festival Honors: 

SOHO International Film Festival (New York City)
Cosmic Cine FilmFestival (Germany)
Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival (New Zealand)
Indie Spirit Film Festival (Colorado, voted Best Colorado Feature))
Awareness Film Festival (Los Angeles)
Urban Nomads Film Festival (Taiwan)
International Freethought Film Festival (Denver)
Denver Indie Fest (Denver)
Film for Change Film Festival (Cape Town)
Cinema Verde Film Festival (Gainesville, Florida)
World Community Film Festival (British Columbia)

Dave Gardner
Filmmaker & GrowthBuster

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