The Story of Plastic

Depicting a world rapidly becoming overrun with toxic material, The Story of Plastic brings into focus an alarming, manmade crisis. Striking footage illustrates the ongoing catastrophe: fields full of garbage, veritable mountains of trash; rivers and seas clogged with waste; and skies choked with the poisonous runoff from plastic production and recycling processes with no end in sight. Original animations and archival material from the 1950s and ‘60s augment the far-ranging insights of contemporary activists, scientists, and farmers in this timely documentary. These perspectives along with forays to sites as far-flung as China, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines, in addition to US locales, point to the disastrous impact of the manufacture and use of plastics. The Story of Plastic forcefully identifies a pressing global challenge first identified around 15 years ago - one that threatens the life expectancy of animals, humans, and Earth itself. (Mill Valley Film Festival)