Home » Entertainment » ‘I am Greta’, how a Swedish student conquered the world

‘I am Greta’, how a Swedish student conquered the world

Swedish Greta Thunberg has become the figurehead of the climate protests and a factor that politicians must take into account. And it was Swedish director Nathan Grossman who coincidentally filmed her from the beginning. In the documentary I am Greta he follows her from the very first lonely strike in front of the parliament building in Stockholm. Her action would grow into a global climate protest by young people: Fridays For Future. Thunberg is now an indispensable part of the world stage.

“You have to go to school!” A gray woman addresses 15-year-old Greta Thunberg in 2018 while sitting alone next to the ‘school strike for the climate’ sign. It is her very first day of strike. Greta’s response immediately shows that she is serious. “Why should I go to school if there is no future for me?”

Getting into her head

Director Nathan Grossman was there from day one. A fluke. He heard about Greta’s strikes in parliament in the run-up to the Swedish elections. “I remember she was very shy until we started talking about climate change.

Before he knows it, Grossman is touring world leaders and conferences with Greta and her father Svante Thunberg. The press is enthusiastic about the young climate activist. “In all those short interviews, Greta remained quite one-dimensional. I wanted to understand how she saw the world and get into her head to hear her inner monologue,” says Grossman.

Official Dutch trailer

It leads to a portrait in which an ordinary 15-year-old girl can also be seen. She doubts which clothes she will choose, she gets the giggles about a photo with the Pope, but she also becomes visibly exhausted. She feels like a cry in the desert and is homesick for home and her beloved dogs.

Climate activist Sytze Fortuin (14): “I loved how this film also showed her vulnerable side. child.” Climate activist Elisa Evrengun (13) thought it brave that Greta spoke that way. “She is not a heroine or guru to me, but I think it is good that she started this movement.”

‘Laserfocused’

Jacquelien van Stekelenburg is professor of Social Change and Conflict and conducts international research into demonstrations, into those of Fridays For Future in particular. “As girls in particular identify more strongly with Greta, they also feel that their participation in protests is more effective. Greta is real. a role model.”

Greta herself sees the fact that she has Asperger’s, a form of autism, as an advantage. In the film she subtly points out to a politician that she does not resemble Asperger’s, but simply has it. It enables her to laserfocused and absorb all climate information in detail. Sometimes Greta’s perfection becomes too much for her father. While important people await them, Greta has long doubts about the spelling of the word gasstation in a speech. Father Svante especially thinks they should leave. Full of misunderstanding, his daughter curls up in her hotel bed and shuts herself off.

The film shows how populist world leaders like Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro are not afraid to publicly ridicule the girl. “She has a very authentic emotional way of speaking, which she conveys really passionately”, says Van Stekelenburg. “That means she can strike an emotional chord. It is not only the young people, it is also the adults that she knows how to mobilize. People see that she has a lot of influence. In that sense she is a political factor that they have to take into account keep it, 15 years or not. “

Grossman often found that important politicians did not know what to do with Greta’s directness. “They would pat her on the back for her involvement without going into the message itself. Still, I think she has influenced the climate debate.”

Greta’s speeches evoke both admiration and anger. During the UN climate summit in 2019 she gave her now legendary ‘How Dare You Speech’:

video-player"> —-

Greta Thunberg’s angry speech

– – –

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.