Renowned scientists Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss have been travelling the world on a speaking tour, generating large crowds, long queues at book signings and enthusiastic fans. Where ever they appear they receive the full rock star treatment.
Film making brothers Gus Holwerda and Luke Holwerda saw this and decided to produce a film that looks and feels like a rock documentary. The audience sees the crowds building up, the interviews in radio and television studios, and then the performances in concert halls of soaring intellectuals, solid arguments, duelling advocates, adoring crowds and hostile adversaries. Lawrence Krauss asks Richard Dawkins, “What is more important, if you had the choice, to explain science or destroy religion?” Dawkins answers science, “science is wonderful, science is beautiful.”
It is easy to blur the film with the message of Dawkins and Krauss. The Holwerda brothers are enthusiastic supporters but they want people to ask questions and to be open about accepting the beauty and richness of science and the ideas flowing from these speakers. The audience at the Australian premiere at the Sydney Opera House as part of The Festival of Dangerous Ideas was overwhelmingly enthusiastic and obviously were sympathetic to the ideas of the importance of science and reason in the modern world as argued by the two scientists. The film is beautifully filmed and constructed. A lot of the film is shot in a spectacular looking Sydney. Dawkins’ and Krauss’ arguments are presented, tested and argued with the right balance of complexity and approachability. There are many humorous situations which bring a nice balance to the film.
There is a long list of celebrities, mostly from the entertainment world but also academics and philosophers, who appear in the film supporting the work of these controversial speakers, including Ricky Gervais, Woody Allen, Cameron Diaz, Stephen Hawking, Sarah Silverman, Bill Pullman, Werner Herzog, Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert, Tim Minchin, Eddie Izzard, Ian McEwan, Adam Savage, Ayaan Hirsi-Ali, Penn Jillette, Sam Harris, Dan Dennett, James Randi, Cormac McCarthy, Paul Provenza, James Morrison, Michael Shermer and David Silverman. The filmmakers explained that these people help to spread the message as organised religion fights back and tries to stop the questioning & ideas of Dawkins and Krauss.
The film is only screening as yet at a few international festivals. Further updates will be available at http://unbelieversmovie.com/