EVERYTHING IS FINE is a new feature documentary from the award-winning director of FINITE: The Climate of Change, Rich Felgate, that tells the inside story of the people on the frontlines of climate protests in the UK.

A vicar, a student and an ex-oil and gas worker are part of an unlikely alliance of concerned citizens risking their lives and liberty to halt plans for over 130 new oil and gas projects in the UK. As their protest tactics become increasingly controversial, they make more than a few enemies. Vilified by many, seen as heroes by others – this is the inside story of Just Stop Oil.

Whilst the climate collapses, how far will ordinary people go to stop new fossil extraction and how far will the government go to stop them?

Amid a crackdown on protest, little by little, our civil liberties are taken away and the right to journalistic freedom comes into question. Activists are imprisoned for simply marching on the road. But as climate concern increases amongst the public, can their sacrifice and high risk tactics pay off?

The fingerprints of the media are all over the climate crisis. As our protagonists raise the alarm in news studios, our film becomes a real life version of Don’t Look Up.

I, (Rich, director) started out as an activist before making films – taking direct action and getting arrested – but I picked up a camera to show what’s really happening on the frontlines of protest. We are in a battle for the narrative as much as we are in a battle against fossil fuels.

We can’t rely on the corporate media to tell this story, we have to tell it ourselves.

And we can do it with your support.

       What we need and what you get…

• We need to raise £70k to carry on filming and editing. So far, we’ve filmed 130 hours of footage out of our own pockets, which will take us 5-6 months to edit. To do this, we need to pay our editor, rent an edit studio, pay for hard drives, travel costs for filming, and cover our own costs so we can commit the time that this project deserves and release it as soon as possible.
• Be the first to see the finished film. Buy your copy of the film or ticket to see it on the big screen in advance by helping us raise the funds to complete it.
• Every donation helps us get closer to finishing the edit, even if we don’t reach our final goal.
• By supporting this film, you are part of our community, powering independent media to change the world. Join the ordinary people protecting life, choosing to speak up and not to sit back and watch everything collapse.

My first feature film, FINITE, about communities fighting opencast coal mining was made possible by crowdfunding supporters like you, and together we have successfully inspired audiences around the world. FINITE is regularly screened educationally and is used by activists to grow our movement and remind ourselves that change is possible. FINITE won a string of awards and has reached people globally on TV and in cinemas, but our deepening crisis demands that we continue such important storytelling and aim bigger and bolder.

As climate activists are increasingly demonised in the media and our right to protest is eroded in defence of business as usual, EVERYTHING IS FINE will be an urgent counter-narrative. It will positively change the public conversation on climate action, by showing the truth and humanity of the people behind the headlines and holding the government to account.

We all need to come together to make this a communal film, so that the world is exposed to the truth and millions are inspired to act. With your help, we can tour the film across cinemas and community screenings to empower resistance from the ground up. With enough support, together, we can also break this truth-telling story into the mainstream and affect mass change.

DIRECTOR & CINEMATOGRAPHER – Rich Felgate is an activist turned documentary filmmaker. For his debut film FINITE, he spent a year and half living in protest camps in Germany and North East England with communities opposing opencast coal mining. Crowdfunded on Kickstarter, FINITE went on to be broadcast around the world, from Japan (NHK) to Belgium (RTBF), play at top festivals (Leeds International Film Festival, FIPADOC, DokuFest) and win multiple awards, including the FIPADOC Impact Grand Prix. FINITE was independently theatrically released in the UK (Picturehouse) and Germany, with a string of sold out screenings and continues to be used as a campaigning tool by communities and activists all over the world. Rich was longlisted for best debut director at the British Independent Film Awards in 2023.

PRODUCER – Hugh Hartford is a producer of multiple internationally acclaimed feature documentaries: THANK YOU FOR THE RAIN (ZDF/Arte), MAYA (BFI/Doc Society/ZDF/Arte), AYOUNI (DFI), PING PONG (Film4/Doc Society). He also exec produced FINITE (Aesthetica, Jackson Wild). Hugh’s films have been released in cinemas worldwide and broadcast on the very best documentary platforms – Netflix, POV, BBC, Arte, ZDF, Film 4, Yle, NRK, SVT. Over the last decade he’s worked with filmmakers in East Africa, South East Asia, MENA, South America as well as India, Iran, UK and U.S.

Two of the feature films he’s made regularly get used as case studies for how documentaries can drive positive social change. THANK YOU FOR THE RAIN helped build a community owned reservoir in Kenya. PING PONG is credited with kickstarting a table tennis craze in care homes across the UK.

EDITOR – Rachel Roberts is a Scottish documentary editor based in London. Her short form work includes two Grierson nominations and an IDA nomination, as well as a Vimeo Short of the Week. Her first feature IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE? premiered at Sundance before screening at festivals all over the world. It won the FIPRESCI International Film Critics Prize at Krakow Film Festival, was nominated for two BIFAs and a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut.

Making a film which stands up to oil the industry, the state and the media will always come with risks and challenges. It’s hard to get films of this nature financed. We face the challenge of being a small team and coming up against state repression. But we have a track record of success. We’ve made films in the past with tiny budgets that have reached millions, telling the truth out by getting our films onto the best documentary platforms. We successfully crowdfunded to make FINITE and have raised money from broadcasters and film funds, all made easier by building a community of supporters.

The activists in our film often take big risks, breaking the law in non-violent civil resistance against the government. But they often say the biggest risk is to do nothing at all. Perhaps our biggest risk is to not make this film at all.

Completing this film will only be possible with the generous support of people like yourself, who want the truth to be told and want to see change. Supporting this film is a tangible way to make a difference and we can’t thank you enough.

We understand that some people can’t contribute financially, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be part of our community speaking truth to power. As independent filmmakers, we depend entirely on word of mouth to share this vital message.

• Please spread the word, follow us and share our crowdfunder on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok and talk about the project with your friends, family and colleagues.
• Take a few minutes to directly message friends who might be interested in our campaign.

THANK YOU!