Getting lost in a dangerous Panama neighbourhood ruled by drug gangs was just one of the challenges producer/director Jeff Canin faced in his mission to make a film about climate change.

He and his small crew were also confronted by heart-breaking poverty while filming in the Congo, attacked by mites in the Amazon forest, and stonewalled by politicians.

Then Canin’s investors pulled out, leaving him with an $80,000 credit-card debt.

But after five years, Two Degrees was finally completed and will have its international premiere in Adelaide on Saturday at the Transitions Film Festival, which showcases films related to sustainability issues.

InDaily spoke to Canin about his film, which travels from climate-change talks in Copenhagen, to Central America, and finally South Australia’s Port Augusta, where the community is trying to replace coal-fired power stations with solar thermal energy.

Why did you want to make this film?

There is nothing more important today than climate change because it threatens the basic functioning of the planet and the conditions that made life on earth possible. If we don’t drastically reduce our emissions, my 21-year-old daughter won’t have a habitable planet to live on, let alone any future grandchildren.

I wanted to make a film that would inspire people to act to bring about change at the grass-roots level, and to believe that what they do can make a difference.

Tell us about Two Degrees …

At its heart, Two Degrees is primarily a call to arms for climate justice. It’s the industrialised world that has principally caused the problem of climate change, but it’s the developing world that’s feeling the brunt of the impact.  So climate justice dictates that the industrialised countries need to both urgently reduce their emissions, and help the developing world adapt to climate change through massive transfers of technology and finance.

Secondly, it’s about deforestation. We cannot win the battle against climate change if we don’t stop deforestation. We look at this issue in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than half the population live in or are dependent on their tropical forests.  Deforestation is driven mostly by demand in the developed world.

Thirdly, we look at the negotiations leading up to the UN Climate Change Convention in Copenhagen, which were carried out at a snail’s pace.  We then watch in shock, anger and disbelief as the negotiations collapse.

In part two of the film, as a counterpoint to this Government-led inaction, we follow a community group in Port Augusta which is trying to have its coal-fired power stations shut down and replaced with solar thermal.  Led by the late Mayor Joy Baluch, ordinary people are saying enough is enough: we have to stop the burning of fossil fuels and replace them with renewable energy.  The overwhelming vote in favour of solar thermal is a wake-up call to the South Australian Government, which had seemed to be intent on replacing one fossil fuel with another.

What complications did you face while making this film?

Filming in a country like the Democratic Republic of Congo was probably our biggest challenge, both logistically and emotionally. The poverty is overwhelming. People are surviving on so little, with so few resources and so many children.  It was heartbreaking looking at those gorgeous kids, with threadbare clothes, and knowing the challenges they face because of their grinding poverty and because of climate change.

We also filmed in Panama, where there are no street signs. Driving home after midnight on the first night, we got totally lost. Trying to understand directions from a policeman who couldn’t really read the map was stressful, but we understood him when he pointed to one area on the map, saying, “bang bang – very, very dangerous”.  Which of course is exactly where we ended up, lost in a drug gang neighbourhood, where there are murders every night.  Luckily we came across another police car and they very kindly, with serious eye-rolling, showed us the way out.

But the biggest challenge of all was the disappearance of our investors when the global financial crisis took hold.  After over a year of filming, I was left with an $80,000 debt on my credit cards and the evaporated promises of money.  It took another year and a half before we found an angel investor.  By this time, my debts had almost doubled as I simply had to keep going.   

Why is it important people learn about the effects of climate change?

It’s our future, and the future of our children.  It’s as simple as that.  We absolutely cannot go on like we currently are, partying on the Titanic!  Scientists have been telling us for years that we will have more climate extremes, more droughts, more bushfires.

What do you hope the film will achieve?

I hope it will galvanise the public to reduce their own personal carbon emissions and demand greater action from our governments.

Jeff Canin and Dan Spencer, from the Repower Port Augusta Alliance, will speak at the Two Degrees premiere at the Mercury Cinema on Saturday, November 2. Transitions Film Festival runs from November 1-23. The full program is online.