Just do it – a tale of modern day outlaws

A few years ago a friend and I were pitching ideas for documentaries, I wanted to make a fly-on-the-wall film about activism. Whether or not I share their cause, I find activist personalities interesting – what motivates them? How do you keep going in the face of insurmountable odds? And how far will you go?

We never got to make the film I had in mind, but here’s something not dissimilar. Film-maker Emily James spent a year with radical climate activists and documents their conversations, planning, action, and sometimes arrest. The result is Just do it, which is released next week. Let’s hope they don’t get sued by Nike.

Direct action is always controversial, of course. If it’s non-violent and doesn’t do any serious damage, then generally speaking I’m in favour of it, the more creative the better. It’s certainly more effective than endless marches and banner waving, or cheesy photo-shoots of polar bears or people in politician masks.

The UK Uncut occupations have been a good example, turning tax-avoiding retail outlets into pop-up clinics or libraries and drawing a clear link between tax avoidance and public spending cuts. Greenpeace’s occupation of Kingsnorth power station was a much riskier endeavour, but even if you think they’re idiots, you can’t help but admire their nerve – see Nick Broomfield’s excellent short documentary A Time Comes.