The Magnitude of All Things

The Magnitude of All Things

When Jennifer Abbott lost her sister to cancer, her sorrow opened her up to the profound gravity of climate breakdown. Abbott’s new award winning feature draws intimate parallels between the experiences of grief – both personal and planetary. 

This cinematic journey by the Sundance award-winning director (The Corporation) takes us around the world to witness a planet in crisis: from Australia’s catastrophic fires and dying Great Barrier Reef, to the island nation of Kiribati, drowned by rising sea levels. In Nunatsiavut, melting ice permanently alters the landscape, while in the Amazon rainforest, Indigenous people fight a desperate battle against oil and mining extraction.

Contemporary stories from the frontlines of climate change merge with recollections from the filmmaker’s childhood on Ontario’s Georgian Bay. What do these stories have in common? The answer, surprisingly, is everything. Battles waged, lamentations of loss, and raw testimony coalesce into an extraordinary tapestry – all woven together with raw emotion and staggering beauty that transform darkness into light, grief into action.

“These images and these stories interrogate the weight of the climate crisis: how it affects us emotionally and physiologically.”Pat Mullen, POV Magazine

Awards and Nominations

Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, 2020, Winner – Best Canadian Feature 
Ulju Mountain Film Festival, South Korea, 2021, Winner – Best Nature & People Film
DocLands Documentary Film Festival, San Rafael, California, 2021, Winner – Audience Choice Award
Riviera International Film Festival, Italy 2021, Special Mention: Documentary
Festival International du Film d’Environnement FReDD, Toulouse, Occitanie, 2021, Special Mention of the Jury for the Grand Prix
Banff Mountain Film Festival, Canada, 2021, Creative Excellence Award
Vancouver International Film Festival, Canada, 2020, Official Selection

Director

Jennifer Abbott

Languages

English

Film Details

2020, 85 min
Canada