For the past four years, director Tim Bennett and producer Sally Erickson have labored together over a project of intense personal passion: "What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire." The self-distributed documentary is a sometimes humorous, often disturbing look at the historical, social and psychological factors "driving us," as the filmmakers bluntly put it, "toward human extinction."

Indyflix@theState will present a screening of "What a Way to Go" Monday night at the State Theatre, along with a post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers. I caught up with Sally Erickson to discuss the making of the film, how "What a Way to Go" fits in with other environmental docs recently in theaters, and what - if anything - can be done to reverse the planet's rapid decline.

Sally Erickson

Traverse City Film Festival: Tell us a little about what inspired "What a Way to Go" and how the movie came about.

Sally Erickson: Tim (Bennett, the director) had been concerned about the environment and particularly global warming since at least the 1980s. I similiarly had been concerned most of my adult life, but neither of us were really activists. Once our children were grown, however, we had the time and energy to dive into these issues more deeply. When we did, we found there was a much larger cultural problem than these isolated incidents we thought existed. The entire way we were living in relation to the natural world was out of balance. That give rise for us to make a personal statement about how and why things have gone wrong.

TCFF: There have been a number of films lately that have explored the topic of climate change and global warming: "An Inconvenient Truth," "The 11th Hour," "Everything's Cool." Where does "What a Way to Go" fit in with this group, and is your message similar to or different from that of other directors?

SE: I think our movie fits with the others in that it certainly addresses global warming, but there are actually four main areas we focus on: global warming, peak oil, mass extinction and population overshoot. We see these four issues as being systematic of an incredibly deep cultural problem called "empire." Empire is a system of living that requires taking over ever more resources in order to survive. Capitalism is one sophisticated form of empire that's been around for thousands of years.

Empire is not a steady state system; it's built on acquiring more and more. When you live on a finite planet, that's a system that cannot continue. As serious as climate change is, if we don't get to the underlying cultural issues that are causing it, we'll keep repeating fixes that never actually address the problem. For example, carbon trading is ridiculous because it promotes a system that requires continuous growth versus maintaining a steady state and not taking any more resources than can be acquired in one cycle. Unless we look at the deeper cultural problems, we won't be able to solve any of the symptoms. Other movies aren't analyzing these cultural causes. So that's one area where Tim and I feel we have made our contribution.

Tim and Sally working behind the scenes

TCFF: One interesting aspect of the film is the guests you've chosen to interview. You have interviews with noted scientists, some of whom have appeared as talking heads in films like "The 11th Hour," but you also prominently feature members of the creative community, such as author Daniel Quinn. Why did you feel it was important to represent a humanities perspective as well as a scientific perspective in the film?

SE: This is something we actually discuss in the movie. What we've found is that scientists are excellent at defining a given situation, but we ask way too much of them to try and solve a problem that's more cultural than scientific. That's why we brought in our cultural analysts, to try and figure out from their point of view what's going on at the root of these issues.

TCFF: How do you hope people will react to "What a Way to Go?"

SE: The feedback we get from audiences is interesting. Most people don't do anything, which is a little disappointing. However, there's an amazing small percentage of people for whom the film radically changes their lives. The film confirms what they've always suspected is true, which is that the system we're living under is not only unsustainable but bankrupt on every level. So it empowers that small percentage to make radical changes, like quitting their jobs, leaving unsatisfactory living situations and so forth.

Our initial hope for the film was that we'd fuel a fire that would spread across Western culture. But our goals have changed since then: We're helping support people already on the edge of waking up. The sad thing is, I think the masses are going to be in for an incredibly difficult and rude awakening, as gas prices spiral and the weather gets more and more crazy…right now, it doesn't seem like there's any stopping it. But there are individuals who will be leaders for small local communities, and there are good things happening - like local food movements - which are being galvanized. So there's hope.

TCFF: Because America is in such a state of comfort, it's likely many people won't change until they're absolutely forced to. But it's also likely many people would see this film and feel inspired to change, but not know how. What do you suggest for those viewers?

SE: It is important to start with the basics. Ask yourself questions. Where does your water come from? Where does your food come from? How are you going to be warm when energy costs rise and oil becomes increasingly scarce? The Internet is an incredible source of information to answer some of these questions.

While we do believe the answers are all out there in the hands of experts, we're also challenging the old notion of authority and suggesting instead that people step into their own responsibility for their own lives, and listen to their own wisdom. If you have a desire to move to the country, start a neighborhood garden, research alternative energy and get involved in that - go out and do those things. There's work to be done on every front.

People do get overwhelmed, but the good news is that there's that small percentage of people who find relief in the fact that life as we know it is about to come to a screeching halt, because frankly, it wasn't that satisfying to begin with! So that's our encouragement to people watching the film, is to listen to their own inner wisdom and go out and become more powerful and more creative in their own lives.

"What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire" will be playing at the State Theatre Monday, June 9 at 7:30 p.m. Director Tim Bennett and producer Sally Erickson will be present for a post-screening Q&A. For ticket information, click here.