Greta Thunberg's film premiers at Venice Film Festival, shows her never-seen-before side

A movie based on 17-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was reportedly premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 4. According to reports, Thunberg allowed film-maker Nathan Grossman to follow her for a year after he met her in 2018 on the first day of her school’s strike. The movie, I am Greta reveals not only the inside story of the pain and risk the teenage activist has put herself through for the climate cause but also her love of breaking into dance and her gift for comedy. 

The documentary reveals how Thunberg went from being a self-confessed ‘shy nerdy person’ to a global icon. The scenes in the film also reportedly show her clashing with her father, Svante, over her perfectionism as she writes and rewrites her speeches. 

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The movie shows the teenage environmentalist dancing in her pyjamas to relieve stress while she crisscrosses Europe on the train and in her father’s electric car. It reveals how she lived off baked beans and pasta while she also urged global leaders to act to save the planet. 

In the movie, she despairs that the responsibility of her role to reminds the world of the existential crisis it faces is ‘too much’. During her press conference at Venice, Thunberg said, “It is such a responsibility. I don’t want to have to do all this”. The 17-year-old, who has Asperger syndrome’ and who has been shunned by leaders claiming she is ‘mentally ill’, also laughed off saying, “Sometimes I think it might be good if everyone had a bit of Asperger’s”. 

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Introvert schoolgirl to global celebrity 

In the documentary film, Thunberg admits that kids were mean to her when she was younger. She said that she was never invited to parties and was always left out. After the screening at the Venice Film Festival 2020, the environmentalist said that she was relieved that the movie does away with the idea that she is an ‘angry naive child who sits in the United Nation General Assembly screaming at world leaders’.

Overall, the film shows how a schoolgirl went from being a quiet introvert to a global celebrity in a few months in 2018. The film also captures her frustration at the gulf between politicians’ promises and their reactions. The movie director, Grossman, reportedly said at the film festival that he was surprised to see how ‘charming and funny’ Thunberg is. 

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