Greenpeace is part of the environmental and peace movement, it’s in the name itself. Both issues often go hand in hand and an example of that would be the first Greenpeace campaign in 1971 against nuclear bomb testing off the coast of Alaska. A troop of hippies went off to sea on a rickety fishing boat but had to abandon their plan to go to the testing site because of the coastal guard’s orders. When they returned to land they were greeted with a wave of sympathy. Protests caused the US government to postpone the tests which ended up not taking place at all.

Archival images and interviews as well as recordings of Bob Hunter, the organization’s co-founder, make it clear that the group’s success would’ve been impossible without the impact of the mass media. Hunter and his colleagues produced spectacular and significant (moving) images for the media. The film’s second half highlights the internal conflicts which was brought on by uncontrolled expansion - central headquarters and a unified strategy were missing for quite some time and the bureaucratic issues didn’t seem radical enough for Paul Watson (who would later found Sea Shepard) and other members. HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD shows that idealism alone cannot suffice, one needs to have a good plan as well.

Christian Horn

Translation: Elinor Lewy