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This two-part film series unfolds around activists and their use of the necessity defense in jury trials in different regions of the US after being charged with trespassing.

Legal strategies in the climate movement take center stage as Indigenous leaders and Native and non-Native activists respond to the growing climate emergency.

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News & Reviews

“It’s notoriously hard to make films about climate change that are pleasurable to watch. The NECESSITY filmmakers have done just that.”

Naomi Klein
Professor of Climate Justice, University of British Columbia;
Filmmaker, and author of The Shock Doctrine and This Changes Everything

“I wish that every high school student in the country could watch Necessity. This is a damning portrait of the bankers and builders who crisscross the country with fossil fuel pipelines — and yet it sings with courage and hope.”

Bill Bigelow
Curriculum Editor, Rethinking Schools;
Co-Director, Zinn Education Project