‘The Human Element’ in nature

MILLERTON — In keeping up with a well-received Earth Day tradition, Townscape of Millerton and North East sponsored a free screening of the documentary, “The Human Element,” at The Moviehouse in collaboration with Millerton’s Climate Smart Communities Initiative on Sunday, April 14.

With doors opening at 10:30 a.m., a modest gathering of local residents assembled in one of the theaters on the second floor for the 11 a.m. screening. 

As the documentary opened with images of forest fires, melting glaciers and the recent hurricanes that upended countless communities, environmental photographer James Balog navigated the audience through the collision between people and nature, which he described as “the fabric and the story of our time.” 

While many believe nature is comprised of four essential elements — water, air, fire and earth — he explained that humans make up the fifth element. 

Throughout the film, the audience studied each of the four natural elements and their influence on the human element. Introducing climate change as a major interference in the balance among elements, “The Human Element” depicts how changes in behaviors have an impact on one another, causing increasingly strained relationships between humans and nature. 

Shedding light on the human element in nature, the film documentary incorporates real-life accounts of elemental effects on communities that have been rendered vulnerable to natural outcomes such as flooding, pollution, wildfires and coal mining. From the individuals urging for change to the people striving to adapt to their current circumstances and the children whose futures are being shaped by the elements, “The Human Element” incorporates various stories to illustrate nature’s influence on human activity and vice versa.

Following the screening, the audience was invited to stay for a Q&A panel featuring North East Town Board Councilman Chris Kennan, journalist and filmmaker Sam Eaton and students Carter Moyer and Alisa Ghura from The Hotchkiss School Environmental Program, all of whom came to the Q&A with individual perspectives regarding the link between humans and climate change.

Based on his experiences in registering the town of North East as a Climate Smart Community, Kennan proposed taking small steps to create a collective impact for challenging climate change on a community level. Agreeing with Kennan, Eaton mused that the town and village’s efforts to get ahead in creating a collective impact served as an investment in their future. Moyer and Ghura shared their observations of climate change from the Environmental Program in addition to what the future might look like if communities fail to rise to the occasion. 

“One thing I’d like to leave us with as we absorb the film… and think about what’s happening in the news is now we can take this knowledge and sense of urgency and transmit that to a larger audience,” Kennan said.