Werner Boote conducted research around the globe for 10 years for his extensive film project “Plastic Planet”. The documentary won its first prize shortly after it arrived in movie theatres in the fall of 2009. The 44-year-old filmmaker will discuss artificial worlds, endangered fish and climate change at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum. This year’s conference, entitled “The Heat is On – Climate Change and the Media”, will take place from June 21-23 in Bonn. Boote has made a name for himself as a music producer and director, but his family from Vienna has a history in plastics – but that’s not where he got the idea for his film. “The idea didn’t come from the fact that my grandfather worked in the plastics industry. It was a newspaper clip that got me interested,” says Boote. “Fish couldn’t reproduce because they were carrying Bisphenol A (BPA). It’s a chemical substance from the production of plastics that people suspect causes allergies and influences the hormonal system.” This was a defining moment for Boote, who then decided to look more intensively at how plastics can threaten our health and the environment. The author had high hopes for the film. Climate change became a hot topic because of Al Gore. “I hope that ‘Plastic Planet’ turns out just like that,” Boote said. The topic has been making waves and is even being taught in schools. The reaction from the plastics industry also shows that it is time to take Boote seriously. For 18 months, “PlasticsEurope” didn’t respond to any of his phone calls. But the premiere of the film was important enough for them to create five-page dossier: Suggestions on how to respond and react to the film. Boote uses shocking scenes in his documentary and delivers many facts. For example, that 40 years ago, five million tons of plastic were produced in Europe. Today it is 60 million tons – one-fourth of the total world production. At the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn, the Austrian filmmaker wants to use constructive criticism: “We have to ask ourselves: What do I really need? How can I contribute? At some point you will realize that it’s cool to think about consumption.” More than 50 individual events In 2010, the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum once again offers more than 50 events including podium discussions and workshops, interactive presentations and exhibitions, networking and interesting side events. It takes place at the World Conference Center Bonn, close to Deutsche Welle’s headquarters. Deutsche Welle is cooperating with many different organizations for this interdisciplinary conference, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the International Human Dimensions Program on Global Environmental Change (UN IHDP/ESSP), EU Commission and the World Bank, the Wuppertal Institute, World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), NABU and the Climate Alliance, the Institute for World Business Kiel, German Development Institute (DIE), the Center for Development Research (ZEF) and many others. Co-host of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum is the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Sparkasse in Bonn. The convention is also supported by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, the Family, Women and Integration Ministry of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, European Funds for Regional Development, the city of Bonn, DHL, the KSB Group and Faber-Castell.