English summary

In the early ‘70s a group of young activists from Vancouver attempted to sabotage Nixon’s nuclear test program. Armed with movie cameras the “rainbow warriors” departed for Alaska. They could not prevent the tests, but their film footage made an enormous impact: Nixon’s nuclear program was quietly swept under the rug. Boosted by their success the group initiates a protest that would make them world famous. Heroically they confront an enormous Russian whaling ship with a few small rubber boats. At that moment Greenpeace was born. Right from the start the Greenpeace pioneers documented their activities exceptionally well. Director Jerry Rothwell gratefully utilises this wealth of archive material. The result is a breath-taking docu-thriller and a psychological portrayal of the impact of those initial overwhelming successes on the first Greenpeace activists. We bear witness to the wrenching choices between idealism and pragmatism, between principles and compromises. How to Change the World won the Editing Award at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival: “For its brilliant weaving of past and present and skillfully layered storytelling.”