Documentary filmmaker Charles Ferguson shows no fear when it comes to tackling controversial subject matter. Taking on the Iraq war with "No End In Sight" in 2007, and the economic crash with 2010’s Oscar winning "Inside Job," both were in depth, incendiary works, showcasing a real no-nonsense finesse for the craft of non-fiction feature filmmaking.
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Next on Ferguson’s plate was an ultimately abandoned CNN documentary about current presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. It seems like the Clintons had no interest in seeing the wholesome, well managed image they have built over the years touched up upon by Ferguson. The director later told Huffington Post, "…nobody, and I mean nobody, was interested in helping me make this film. Not Democrats, not Republicans — and certainly nobody who works with the Clintons, wants access to the Clintons or dreams of a position in a Hillary Clinton administration." Given the current political climate are any of us that surprised by the Clintons’ reaction?
Ferguson hasn’t let the failure of that project diminish his ambitions. Narrated by Oscar Isaac, "Time to Choose" tackles another timely and relevant subject, climate change, with Ferguson traveling from Appalachian coal country to Nigerian oil fields all the way to Indonesian rain forests to show us just how drastic and dangerous the environmental situation has become. “We do have a clock in front of us" the trailer warns, but it’s not too late, as there are still possible solutions, but acting swiftly is the only way to combat this very real enemy.
The film had its debut at last year’s Telluride Film Festival, where it received positive notices from critics, and it will open on June 3rd in select theaters. Watch the trailer, two clips, and talk with the director below.
