Oscar favourite Joaquin Phoenix helps to publicise the dangers of climate change in a new short Film entitled “Guardians of Life”. The “Joker” star has joined forces with the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion and Amazon Watch on the two-minute movie, the first in what is planned to be a series of twelve similar length films aimed at getting a hard-hitting message across about a major global issue facing the planet.
Phoenix stars alongside Rosario Dawson (“Men in Black II”), Oona Chaplin (“Taboo”) and Matthew Modine (“Full Metal Jacket”), as a medic striving to save planet Earth as represented in the form of an unidentified patient, with the action taking place in a Los Angeles emergency room.
The patient’s predicament is intended to symbolise and draw attention to the perils of climate change, deforestation in the Amazon and the wildfires in Australia, that have wreaked such devastation in recent months.
Controversial acceptance speech
Never one to shy away from potential controversy, the younger brother of the late River Phoenix ("Stand by Me"), combines his undoubted acting ability with a very real conscience away from the film set. His acceptance speech at the recent BAFTAs bore testament to that, as he berated the movie industry for allowing systemic racism to invade the event’s nomination lists and the industry in general.
Favourite for Oscar prize
The 45-year-old American actor and producer has been established as the firm favourite to capture this year’s Best Actor prize at the Oscars, after three previous near misses over the years, including his roles in “Gladiator” and “Walk the Line”.
Thanks to his mesmeric portrayal of the colourful Batman adversary, the Joker, he has received much critical acclaim as a result and seems set to walk away with the major award in 2020.
Trouble for Phoenix
However, his outspoken nature has also landed him in trouble on occasions. Just last month, the major movie star was arrested at a climate change protest in Washington that had been arranged by Jane Fonda, only days after he had won a Golden Globe for his “Joker” role.
Global environmental issues
Founded in Britain in 2018 by Roger Hallam and Gail Bradbrook, with the help of other leading activists from the campaign group Rising Up!, Extinction Rebellion’s main purposes are to mitigate against climate change, support nature conservation and help to protect the global Environment. Amazon Watch is an organisation that shares similar beliefs but have been in existence for far longer than Extinction Rebellion (since 1996), with headquarters in California, as they campaign to protect the Amazon rainforest and to advance the rights of the Amazon Basin’s indigenous peoples.
