Film is a powerful medium. Many of us on the VEGAN lifestyle ASSOCIATION team recall films, documentaries and presentations that have opened our eyes and changed our lives for the better. Here are just some of the incredible films that we’ve seen.
What film, documentary or presentation have YOU found very powerful; how did it change your life? We’d love to know. Please get in touch.
Live and Let Live is a feature documentary examining our relationship with animals, the history of veganism and the ethical, environmental and health reasons that move people to go vegan. Food scandals, climate change, lifestyle diseases and ethical concerns move more and more people to reconsider eating animals and animal products. Live and Let Live tells the stories of six individuals who decided to stop consuming animal products for different reasons and shows the impact the decision has had on their lives. In addition, philosophers such as Peter Singer, Tom Regan and Gary Francione join scientists T. Colin Campbell and Jonathan Balcombe to shed light on the ethical, health and environmental perspectives of veganism.
This is the film that environmental organizations don't want you to see. "COWSPIRACY: The Sustainability Secret" is a groundbreaking feature-length environmental documentary following an intrepid filmmaker as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today – and investigates why the world's leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it. As eye-opening as "Blackfish" and as inspiring as "An Inconvenient Truth", this shocking yet humorous documentary reveals the absolutely devastating environmental impact large-scale factory farming has on our planet.
A powerful and informative documentary about society’s treatment of animals, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix with soundtrack by Moby. This multi-award winning film by Nation Earth is a must-see for anyone who cares about animals or wishes to make the world a better place. “Of all the films I have ever made, this is the one that gets people talking the most,” said Phoenix. “For every one person who sees EARTHLINGS, they will tell three.”
Often described as: ‘The Real Matrix - 101 reasons for taking the red pill.’ A fascinating and entertaining presentation on the ethical solutions and health benefits of Veganism by James Wildman of the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida. Watch the most powerful speech you will ever hear.
An multi-award winning documentary that illuminates the lives of individual animals living within and rescued from the machine of our modern world. Through the heart and photographic lens of award-winning animal rights photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur, audiences become intimately familiar with a cast of non-human animals. The film follows Jo-Anne over the course of a year as she documents several animal stories in parts of Canada, the U.S. and in Europe. Each story and photograph is a window into global animal industries: Food, Fashion, Entertainment and Research.
Part sociological experiment and part adventure comedy, Vegucated follows three meat and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks. Lured by tales of weight lost and health regained, they begin to uncover the hidden sides of animal agriculture that make them wonder whether solutions offered in films like Food, Inc. go far enough. This entertaining documentary showcases the rapid and at times comedic evolution of three people who discover they can change the world one bite at a time.
The major storyline traces the personal journeys of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, a nutritional biochemist from Cornell University, and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a former top surgeon at the world renowned Cleveland Clinic. Inspired by remarkable discoveries they made, these men conducted several groundbreaking studies. Their separate research led them to the same startling conclusion: degenerative diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes and even several forms of cancer, could almost always be prevented – and in many cases reversed – by adopting a whole foods, plant-based (Vegan) diet.
This powerful documentary has aired on UK TV twice now and is having a powerful effect worldwide in waking people up to the horrors of the captive marine animal ‘entertainment’ industry. Blackfish tells the story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity. It includes shocking footage and emotional interviews to explore the creature’s extraordinary nature, the species’ cruel treatment in captivity, the lives and losses of the trainers and the pressures brought to bear by the multi-billion dollar sea-park industry.
A shorter documentary focusing on one man’s journey from a violent upbringing, where animals played no part in his life, to becoming an advocate for the voiceless. His perceptions were first challenged when he cared for someone’s cat and realised that the cat was a living being, just like him. Eddie is very open and candid about what happened and that makes him very engaging to watch. His final messages about making a difference and then seeing that put into action are inspirational.