Jess Rogers
I think the Rolling Stones had it right (as they do in most cases), “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find, you get what you need.” Divide in Concord shows a lovely octogenarian who is trying to enforce this mantra when it comes to bottled water. You don’t need to buy a single serving of bottled water. There are taps, there are reusable containers and you won’t have to go without. So Jean Hill decided that a little tough love was in order to save her community from itself, and in return begin to do their part to save the world.
To do this, she has to pass a bylaw at the annual town meeting. We see her attempts beginning in 2010, which were thwarted by a poorly written bill, and again the next year, and then much of the film devotes itself to following what will turn out to be her final push to get the bill passed, enlisting help from other activists and going door to door to explain her petition. She has the facts to back her up, but in a city built upon rebellion, there is a lot of resistance to this collective decision to limit personal freedom.
For me personally, a lot of this film made me squirm with indignation on Hill’s behalf listening to the willful ignorance and misplaced discussion of rights by people wishing to sink our environmental ship.
However, if you want to see if it’s possible for one person to make a difference, watch Jean Hill’s example and know that someone is willing to stand up and get what we need done.
DIVIDE IN CONCORD plays Hot Docs 2014 on Saturay night, April 26th – 9:30pm at Scotiabank Theatre. It plays again on Monday, April 28th – 1:30pm at The Lightbox, and once more on Saturday, May 3rd – 11am at Isabel Bader. (official website)