Minimalism 2016
Distributed by The Video Project, 145 - 9th St., Suite 102, San Francisco, CA 94103; 800-475-2638
Directed by Matt D’Avella
DVD , color, 79 min.
High School - General Adult
Advertising, Capitalism, Commerce, Sustainable Living
Date Entered: 07/26/2017
Reviewed by Linda Frederiksen, Washington State University, Vancouver, WAJoshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus are the authors of Everything That Remains (2014) and Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life (2016). Through their books, a website, blog, podcast, and speaking tours, the two friends share their desire to help people live meaningful lives with fewer possessions. Although they did not originate the minimalist movement, Millburn and Nicodemus are among the most visible proponents of a philosophy in which people learn to live deliberately with less.
In this engaging documentary, filmmaker and director D’Avella follows Millburn and Nicodemus on a book tour around the United States. Interspersed with tour appearances are interviews with scholars, authors, environmentalists, and other advocates of a pared down lifestyle. In this argument to walk away from the compulsory consumption that fills our days but leaves us dissatisfied, the minimalists discuss their own journey while hearing from researchers and ordinary citizens. Presenting sobering statistics and anecdotes about the damage stark materialism does to the planet and the individual; the minimalists also offer hope that we can change.