Sony Pictures Classics will bring a new documentary to theaters in the coming months that attacks those who scrutinize the latest global warming headlines.
Will film critics label the finished product “one-sided” or “propaganda” as they so often do with those rare right-of-center films?
Merchants of Doubt, according to Deadline.com, examines people “hired to cast doubt and delay action on climate change.”
The film is inspired by the book from Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, which takes a satirical look at the heart of conjuring American spin. Kenner (Food Inc.) focuses on a secretive group of charismatic pundits-for-hire who present themselves in the media as scientific authorities – yet have the contrary aim of spreading maximum confusion about well-studied public threats ranging from toxic chemicals to pharmaceuticals to climate change.
What you likely won’t see in the film: profiles of eco-hypocrites like Al Gore, director James Cameron and Robert Redford. The documentary genre is ripe for such a project. Such a film wouldn’t necessarily have to attack global warming estimates, but it could castigate those who preach about them but live as if they don’t believe their own rhetoric.