When a billionaire cheese puff who exclaims that climate change is a hoax is running for president of the United States, it’s more crucial timing than ever for Leonardo DiCaprio to use his sweeping presence to bring the catastrophic issue facing our natural world to the masses.
Academy Award winning director Fisher Stevens documents DiCaprio on his three year journey exploring the causes and effects of climate change on the planet and the people living in it. Spoiler alert: the main culprits include the corruption of government to allow continued devastation of land for the extraction and burning of fossil fuels and deforestation for palm oil plantations. The duo travel to five continents and the Arctic speaking to scientists, activists, local residents and world leaders (Barack Obama, Pope Francis) to gain a deeper understanding of this complex issue and investigate concrete solutions to the most pressing environmental challenge of our time.
Having founded the LDF in 1998 with a mission to protect the world’s last remaining wild places, the deprivation of the natural world at the hands of mankind has long been something DiCaprio has fought against. It’s no secret; you’ve probably seen those videos of him befriending a gorilla on the internet, his speech urging the world’s leaders to group together to fight the issue at the United Nations Climate Summit, or his acceptance speech at the Academy Awards dedicated to the same topic. It is an admirable feat – and no publicity stunt – that the first film with his involvement to be released after the Best Actor spotlight has been thrust on him is Before The Flood. He has delayed an entire feature production as things got unexpectedly delayed while shooting this documentary in a remote location.
In conjunction with National Geographic, the documentary has been made available for everyone to stream for free as of today. You can stream Before The Flood on National Geographic’s website or YouTube, and you can watch the trailer below.
Leonardo DiCaprio addressing the United Nations in Before The Flood
Leonardo DiCaprio with Barack Obama in Before The Flood
