Dear Future Children

Dear Future Children is a documentary following three young women on the frontlines of three important causes: Rayen, a Chilean activist protesting against social inequality, Hilda, a Ugandan environmentalist and founder of environmental group Fridays for Future, and “Pepper”, a protestor from Hong Kong against the Chinese government.

The three struggles that the film’s leading ladies face in the documentary are ongoing, complicated socio-political conflicts, but Dear Future Children does a great job at being as comprehensive about its central issues as it possibly can, using a carefully balanced mix of interviews with its protagonists, material recorded by the film crew on the frontline, and a selection of archival footage to represent the conflicts in their entirety. This multimedia approach makes for a visually striking and consistently engaging piece, giving the important stories of these three women the platform they deserve.

The movie explores the act of activism along a number of different compelling axes, representing both the necessity and the danger across the world, and bringing to light its effects on the world at large and on smaller communities – the film is just as much about human life as it is about the struggles for peace and justice, focusing on individuals as well as movements. The production also highlights the ways in which social and political apathy can impede movements for equality, challenging its audience and encouraging them to follow in the footsteps of the activists it features.

Dear Future Children is a powerful work, giving three very significant stories the cinematic oxygen they deserve to truly shine on a global stage, with intelligent editing and heaps of style. The documentary brilliantly represents the struggles to make the world a better place, warts and all, condemning complacency and encouraging its audience to champion its central causes while giving the essential work of political activism the weight it merits. Being “inspired” is all well and good, the film argues, but what are you going to do with that inspiration?

Umar Ali

Dear Future Children is released on 17^th November 2021.

Watch the trailer for Dear Future Children here: