Vidas Irrenovables: Naturaleza o Miseria
(Non-Renewable Lives: Nature or Misery)
Francisco José Vaquero Robustillo
Feature
This feature documentary – which will play in full for the first three days of the festival – takes a unique look at the rapid deployment of large-scale renewable-energy projects which have been reshaping rural landscapes and livelihoods across Spain. Using on-the-ground testimony and observational footage, the film traces the social and ecological consequences of what the film argues are poorly planned installations – from the conversion of forests and agricultural land to tensions within affected communities – and documents local resistance to these changes.
As the director states that while renewable solutions are necessary, we risk “destroying the ecosystems, economies and societies of the rural world in Spain.” He goes on to describe that “a lack of planning and poor management by public administrations is seriously endangering the survival of the rural world. Something that was intended to save the environment and revive village life is paradoxically turning into the opposite. Faced with this alarming situation, many people refuse to see their territories die and are giving their lives to stop this situation.”
The film’s critique is not a rejection of wind or solar, but a call for careful, ecologically informed and socially just planning within our global energy transition. It foregrounds the paradox that technologies deployed without adequate landscape-level planning or community consent can produce significant harm even as they address climate imperatives.
Vaquero Robustillo is a telecommunications engineer and holds a degree in Audiovisual Communication. His first film was awarded in 8 environmental film festivals around the world and got 27 selections in festivals in 5 continents. The Solution is the Problem is his second documentary film.
Director: Francisco José Vaquero Robustillo
Producer: Manuel Luque Couso
Writer: Pedro Jesús Moriche Hermoso
Courtesy of Metáfora Visual