Decarbonizing cinema: (In)action!, a 100% train shoot about climate inaction

Written by Sophie Renassia

Published on January 18, 2025

In the 39th episode of our podcast Je t’offre un rail ? produced with the support of SNCF Connect, Lisa welcomes Célia from Twomorrow Project. With this media and communications studio, Célia Poncelin and Léo Primard have set themselves a mission: to popularize climate issues and encourage individual and collective commitment. After a book (about their 5-month tour of Europe to explore ecological solutions) and a podcast (to understand the issues in the sectors that emit the most), the couple set themselves a new challenge: to make a documentary!

With (In)action! (due for release on the big and small screens in 2025), they have set themselves the goal of deciphering the mechanisms behind climate inaction, and getting involved. And to stay consistent right to the end, they decided to shoot in Europe without flying, from London to Biarritz via Amsterdam! Logistical challenges, budget, advantages... A behind-the-scenes look at the project.

A 100% train shoot in Europe

Cinema and carbon footprint: where do we stand in France?

The silver screen is unfortunately a major emitter: in France, the audiovisual industries emit 1,7 million tonnes of CO2 every year, equivalent to the annual footprint of 190,000 French people. In other words, in France alone, the industry's annual footprint is comparable to a million round-trip flights between Paris and New York...

According to the think tank The Shift Project, the average carbon footprint of a French feature film is 750 tonnes of CO2eq. While these figures vary according to source and type of production, they give us an idea of the scale of the environmental impact of a film shoot (750 tonnes of CO2eq is equivalent to 750 round-trip flights between Paris and New York!)

The cause? Energy consumption (generators, projectors), set construction, on-set power supplies... but also the movement of equipment and crews. Fortunately, the industry is beginning to realize its impact. Since January 1, 2024, it has been mandatory to calculate one's carbon footprint in order to obtain a subsidy from the CNC.

For their documentary, Célia and Léo collaborated with A Better Prod a company specializing in carbon footprint calculations for audiovisual productions, and made a radical decision: not to fly.

Shooting by train: challenges, budgets and requirements

For Célia and Léo, choosing the train as the only means of transport was an obvious choice: “Making a film about the environment by plane was out of the question,” explains Célia. Filming took them through several European countries, from the UK to France and the Netherlands, all in keeping with their commitment to the environment.

But this choice came at a cost: “For a trip of 8 people to London, the plane cost 800 euros, the train 2,300 euros...” says Célia. “Over 16 days of shooting, this difference amounted to thousands of extra euros.” A not inconsiderable cost, even if the couple refused right to the end to make concessions and compromise the credibility of the message in order to take the plane.

A pleasant surprise, however, marked this shoot: last April, as Célia was denouncing this price difference on LinkedIn, someone reacted by offering to sponsor her project to the tune of 1,300 euros so that her team could take the train!

In total, with a budget of €160,000 (thanks in particular to a crowdfunding campaign, private sponsors and grant applications), the documentary mobilized around ten professionals. “Everyone shared our values, even if it meant making an extra effort,” admits Célia.

16 days of filming by train: the pros and cons

On the downside, there's the cost, which represented a major item of expenditure. “We'd have to make the train more accessible... But the recent report by the Climate Action Network (editor's note: we tell you about it in this article), shows very well how the decarbonization of transport must go through train travel.”
Organizing the shoot also involved meticulous planning. “Sometimes we had ten different reservations on the SNCF Connect app, quite a headache.” Planning can lead to a few mishaps, as in Amsterdam, where Célia was mistaken about the date of a ticket (“fortunately, the ticket inspector let me on board and I was able to find a solution, which was a relief in this logistical marathon”).

For Célia, however, there's no denying that the train has “far more advantages than disadvantages”:

• Time to think as a team: “The train lets you work along the way, exchange ideas as a team and think about the project in a calm setting.”
• Fewer logistical constraints on arrival, since the train makes it possible to travel from city center to city center: “Most of the filming took place in city centers, so we didn't need to take a cab or bus with the crews to get out of an airport, for example.”
• No constraints on transporting technical equipment: “We had no constraints on transporting equipment.” Even if the choice of the train meant limiting personal belongings to the strict minimum, the smaller crew and the flexibility of the train meant that we didn't need the trucks or heavy vehicles often required on traditional shoots.

(In)action! deciphering the mechanisms of climate inaction, and getting involved

Identifying obstacles and infusing change

Célia and Léo have structured the film in 3 parts to understand the main obstacles to change (and how to overcome them!):

• Individual brakes (brain and behavioral psychology)
• Social norms (cultural codes and collective narratives)
• System brakes (political and economic)

“For each part, we took someone from our family who isn't committed to the climate, and brought them along to meet someone with a surprising form of commitment. Coming from different generations, these people illustrate the different ideas and excuses we can give ourselves in the face of the climate emergency.”

To underpin its scientific approach, the film is also punctuated by interviews with researchers (“in particular a psychology researcher who talked to us about the role of emotions: the way we feel about them will freeze us into inaction or, on the contrary, spur us into action!”).

Overcoming excuses and infusing change

“We often tell ourselves that it's our brain's fault and that we're not cut out for action. It's a preconceived idea that we've unfortunately heard a lot about in the media, and it's false. It's true that we have cognitive biases, but in reality we can easily overcome them if we know what they are. In reality, we mostly give ourselves excuses, as a defense mechanism to minimize the emotional burden: it's other people's fault, making efforts costs too much, etc.”

To get beyond these excuses, Célia and Léo invite us to realize the weight of social norms. “Our society is built around fossil fuels, the individual car, and so on. We're going to have to reinvent our ways of doing things, and for that, we need people brave enough in all social groups to infuse change. To show that it's possible and enviable, even to the point of creating tipping points within each social group!”

Inspiring by example

Like us, Célia is convinced that change comes from inspiration. On a personal note, for example, she took a train journey to Budapest (Hungary) with her family and friends, via Romania.

“Experiencing train travel makes you realize how far you can go! Before, these countries seemed so far away, but now I feel like I haven't even had time to do everything I wanted to do on the train.”

With this trip, she can show her family that it's easy to cross Europe by train (only 3 trains: Paris-Vienna (Austria), Vienna-Bucharest (Romania), Bucharest-Budapest (Hungary)) and inspire them to do the same. What's more, this experience gave her other travel ideas of her own: a vacation in Scotland by train, or Japan without a plane...

As Célia concludes: “The greatest challenge is to show that it's enviable to do things differently.” And with this shoot, the couple are proving that trains can be much more than just a means of transport. To keep up with Célia and Léo's projects, visit Twomorrow's Instagram account account and website. And while you're waiting for the (In)action! film to be released in 2025, we invite you to discover the Twomorrow book and podcast!

To make sure you don't miss a single episode, and to get all the inspiration you need from our guests, don't hesitate to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite listening platforms. Thanks to our partner SNCF Connect, the benchmark application for train travel and sustainable mobility, which accompanies over 15 million users on their journeys in France and Europe.