BOZEMAN — The award-winning documentary "Youth v. Gov" will be screening at Montana State University on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Ballroom A of the Strand Union Building.
Director Christi Cooper documented 21 young Americans for over six years, following the Juliana v. The United States of America lawsuit that claims the U.S. government has violated the plaintiffs' constitutional rights to life, liberty, personal safety, and property through willful actions that have created the climate crisis the youth will inherit.
“This is a new story, it’s a climate change story that hasn’t been told before—it’s about the science, or necessarily the impact,” Cooper said. “it’s about what our rights as citizens of this country are.”
The film has been entered in many festivals and will be making its way to Montana State University. Cooper is a graduate of the MFA program at MSU, in the School of Film and Photography.
Following the film, a panel is scheduled for members of the public and students to ask questions.
“To know that they started where I was, which was holding a camera,” MFA student, Olivia Andrus said.
Other students in the school, such as Michael Allen and Cassidy Powers emphasize the importance of alumni successes, "anyone that does something great makes the program look better and makes us look better.”
The School of Film and Photography has seen more students walk through the doors, and hundreds of graduates move on to careers in the field.
“I’m really excited to share this film with the Bozeman community, not only because it’s my hometown,” Cooper said, “but because there’s a really important climate change lawsuit in Montana going on — Held vs. Montana. I think Montanans need to know about these.”
