Cork International Film Festival is delighted to be partnering with the Embassy of France in Ireland as part of their Green Night of Ideas programme, highlighting climate change, to present a digital screening on 26 January 2021 of 'We Have 20 Years to Change the World' (On a 20 Ans pour Changer le Monde), a new documentary by Hélène Médigue, with a Q&A discussion following the screening.

"We have 20 years to change the world… and it all starts with the land that nourishes us. The facts are there: 60% of the soil is dead, and the current mode of production does not feed the planet. But men and women rise to the challenge and demonstrate that we can do without pesticides and chemical inputs for all our food. Thanks to their communicative energy which shakes up speeches and habits, another world is possible!"

The film will be followed by a discussion, "Closer relations: ecological balances and man's relationship to the world and other species, animal and plant, in a global context of collapse of biodiversity". Speakers are:

Hélène Le Teno, French engineer and specialist in ecological and digital transitions. Hélène is featured in the documentary.

Grace Maher, Development Officer for the Irish Organic Association,

Karen O'Donohoe, Grow It Yourself (GIY) Head of Community Development and co-presenter of RTE's 'Grow Cook Eat'

The discussion will be hosted by Johnny Gogan, filmmaker and environmental activist.

Presented in association with the French Embassy, the Alliance Française Network in Ireland and Institut Français.

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Hélène Le Teno

As an engineer, Hélène Le Teno worked in numerous businesses (marketing, oil refining, finance) before specializing in ecological transition. She was recently director of GROUPE SOS Transition Ecologique, in charge of developing and promoting agroecology in France and of advocacy for triple capital accounting. She currently is a consultant and speaker, author of three books about pathways for ecological transition, and director of Jean-Noel Thorel Foundation.

Grace Maher

Grace has extensive experience in organic food and farming. With a qualification in organic horticulture she began her career teaching Sustainable Agriculture at the Organic College in Limerick. From there she returned to her native Carlow and started a commercial horticulture business selling organic produce at the Carlow Farmer’s Market. Grace continued to teach organic horticulture courses from her farm and also at various centres in the area.

In 2007 she began working with the Irish Organic Association (IOA) as their Development Officer. Her role is varied and involves working on projects to develop the sector, and includes a mandate to enhance the role of organic food and producers in the media. Grace lives with her husband Brandon, and their two children in their bespoke strawbale house in County Carlow.

Karen O'Donohoe

Karen returned to rural Ireland after pursuing a successful career in the UK and completing her MSc in Nutrition, Physical Activity and Public Health. A native of East Cork, her passion for social enterprise, health and sustainability saw her start a GIY Group in her home village of Ladysbridge and then join GIY as a fundraiser for GROW HQ, GIY’s €1.4million national food education centre. Now, as Director of Development and member of the Leadership Team, Karen works with a number of GIY’s stakeholders to develop long term partnerships for maximum impact. Her skills as a presenter and entertaining educator were honed during a successful career in health promotion and community development with the University of Bristol where she represented the University on a number of high profile programmes including Inspire 2012 and Healthy Universities. Founder of The Cottage Market, a community led market initiative that has been rolled out on a national scale, Karen is passionate about rural regeneration, empowering micro enterprises and working with communities to create social, environmental and economic success stories.

Johnny Gogan

Johnny Gogan was founding editor of Film Ireland magazine in 1987 and has run Bandit Films for the past thirty years. He has written and directed a wide range of feature film work, including The Last Bus Home (1997), winner of the Best Film award at the Festival of Irish and British Cinema Cherbourg, and Mapmaker (2001) which received the Signis Award Special Mention at Amiens International. His most recent film Home is a Sacrifice Zone premiered at the recent Cork International Film Festival and will be released in Ireland and the UK this Spring. As an environmental activist he has spent the past decade focused on the issue of fracking, the subject of his most recent film.