Film Screening and Panel: X Trillion

You are warmly invited to attend this film screening and Q&A hosted by Essex Law School and the School of Life Sciences.

The film will be followed by a Q&A session with film director Eleanor Church and an expert panel. They will discuss how to use storytelling to galvanise public support for environmental issues, the multifaceted factors underpinning plastic pollution, and the recent breakdown of the Global Plastic Treaty.

X Trillion

One thousand miles from land. The closest humans orbit above in the space station. A lone boat awakens to calm. Then, a fragment. Followed by a toothbrush, a washing basket, a garden chair. Surface samples bring up handfuls of tiny microplastics. Looking out over the ocean, a few pieces of plastic float visibly in sight. But a realisation dawns – we’re looking at a dense soup of tiny pieces. The crew record an average of half a million pieces of microplastics per square kilometre here, and that is only on the surface. Who knows how much is in the 5000 metres of water beneath.

Director Eleanor Church is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer with 20 years of experience telling stories through both film and photography. Her work focusses on social, environmental and human rights issues, exploring topics such as food, migration, supply chains, women’s rights and the broader impacts of societal change. Her films and photo stories have taken her across the globe from the backstreets of bustling cities to remote corners of the earth. She is particularly proud that several projects have contributed to policy change, illustrating how storytelling can spark meaningful action and real-world impact.