Future of Hope By Henry Bateman

The economic crisis of the past few years hit the entire world. Some countries have been more affected, some less. There are those that panicked and thus accentuated the disaster, whilst others remained calm and managed to almost overcome it. Iceland was among the states hugely affected by the debt-system collapses. Future of Hope portrays a country having to rethink and reconfigure its entire way of living, not just to be able to overcome the crisis, but also to head towards a more stable, green future in which they depend less on exterior input and resources, and more on their own.

Based on the principle “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, the film talks about people who have already started working in a new direction and who are true examples of fighters for good causes. Whether it’s about growing your own vegetables when everybody else is buying them from the supermarkets, creating a project through which the unemployed can interact and develop new ideas, or simply trying to understand what your situation is and positively coping with it, it’s remarkable how all these individuals are working to make Iceland a better place to live.

The positive atmosphere is infectious and Heather Millard, the film’s British producer, even decided to move to Iceland after meeting with the locals and hearing their stories. Everybody interviewed is dealing with quite serious issues and totally uncertain futures, some not even able to make their loan repayments to the bank and thus facing the possibility of being arrested. Although concerned, none of them have given up hope for a better future. Thus the film is not only talking about the hope for Iceland, but for all the countries that will soon be facing the energy crisis. This is actually the strongest point of an otherwise not so artistically-challenging movie, and the main reason why communities still facing any kind of crisis should go watch Future of Hope.

By Maria Dicieanu