Barry Silverthorn will be in California from June 21st through June 27th to promote the documentary END of SUBURBIA as well as to promote awareness about the issue of oil depletion. He was motivated to make the documentary after learning about the dependency of industrial society on fossil fuels and learning about the imminent crisis. Barry will be attending screenings of END of SUBURBIA in Los Angeles on the 21st and 23rd and in Berkeley on the 24th and 25th.

Barry Silverthorn on END of SUBURBIA What motivated you to create END of SUBURBIA? I started out to produce a documentary related to 9/11. The more research I did, the more connections I found to the Peak Oil issue. It became obvious to me that 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq, Enron, the economy and the War on Terror were symptoms of depletion. Peak Oil is the story of the decade. And virtually no one was talking about it. At that time, I was listening to an interview on globalpublicmedia.com with James Howard Kunstler on the depletion of fossil fuels and the effect on suburbia. I instantly recognized an opportunity to present some very complicated ideas in a very visual way that most of us could relate to. Kunstler became the centerpiece of our documentary. Shortly thereafter I met Greg Greene, who eventually became the director of the documentary. Within a couple of days he had packed up his camera gear - along with some reading material about Peak Oil for the plane trip - and headed for the ASPO (Association for the Study of Peak Oil) conference in Paris. Why are you touring California? The response to our documentary from the west coast has been incredible. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. The state of California has problems with energy, among other resources. And from the point of view of the suburban lifestyle, it's obvious that the coming energy crisis is going to hit that part of the country very hard. But there also seems to be more awareness in that part of the world, along with a willingness to look at alternative ways of life that are more sustainable. Bottom line is, there are a lot of people who want to screen out documentary in California, and there are a lot of folks who want to see it.

Excerpt from synopsis at www.endofsuburbia.com

Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream. But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge about the sustainability of this way of life. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now, some scientists and policy makers argue in this documentary. The consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are enormous.

Reviews:

"This information is quite shocking. I think many people who thought they had sufficient knowledge concerning the energy crisis will be left in rethinking mode" - Jim, Los Angeles

"By being engaging, indeed amusing in places, The END of SUBURBIA will help to bring the issue to a much wider public" - Julian Darley, Founder of the Post Carbon Institute

Read more reviews at la.indymedia.org and www.postcarbon.org

Schedule:

June 21, 7:00 PM
Ghandi Peace Center
9th Ave. & Broadway
Los Angeles

June 22, 7:00 PM
Paul Roberts - End of Oil
Mark Taper Forum
Los Angeles
This is not an END of SUBURBIA screening and Barry Silverthorn
is not an official guest, but this should be an interesting event which
Barry will likely attend.

June 23, 7:00 PM
Throop Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church
Pasadena

June 24, 7:00 PM
Ecology Center in Berkeley

June 25, 7:00 PM
Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists

For information on the Los Angeles & Pasadena screenings contact eric@peakoilaction.org, 714-926-1916. For information on the Berkeley screenings contact dave@postcarbon.org.

For information other screenings and events related to oil depletion, visit www.peakoilaction.org

Websites for learning about oil depletion:

www.globalpublicmedia.org
www.museletter.org
www.peakoil.net
www.culturechange.org
www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net
www.dieoff.org

How can I get involved in raising awareness or preparing for the energy crisis?

www.postcarbon.org
www.peakoilaction.org
OilAwareness.meetup.org