X TRILLION
14 Women. 3,000 Nautical Miles. X Trillion Pieces of Plastic
World Premiere for Ground-Breaking Film - 1 May 2024
- Feature Documentary Follows Pioneering All-Women Expedition to Great Pacific Garbage Patch -
Director: Eleanor Church
Producer: Verity Wislocki
X Trillion - a film following the renowned all-women ‘eXXpedition North Pacific’ to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - premieres on 1 May 2024 at Curzon Soho, in London. The feature debut by Eleanor Church follows the gruelling journey of eXXpedition’s all-women crew led by Emily Penn, as they sail 3,000 miles across the North Pacific Ocean through the densest accumulation of ocean plastic on the planet - in order to make the unseen, seen.
The Premiere event kicks off a number of screenings around the UK - find out more at
https://www.xtrillionfilm.com/
The 14 women international crew was made up of scientists, filmmakers, circular-economists, engineers, teachers, packaging designers and creators - but very few were sailors. It is a life-affirming story of adventure, discovery, science, solidarity and a call to action that burns with optimism.
Director, Eleanor Church, said:
“We were a crew of women with different skills, goals and motivations, brought together to witness and record the true extent of the plastic pollution crisis - with a focus on micro plastics and their toxic impact on female bodies in particular. We all emerged transformed by the experience and are committed to telling the story of what we witnessed and working to find solutions.
“The film is about this global crisis, but more than that it highlights the crucial role women play in helping to change systems and find solutions to the big problems facing humanity.”
Produced by Verity Wislocki, the film explores the practical and emotional responses to one of the biggest global challenges of our time, as the crew leave families and land behind, to battle high seas, storms and sea sickness, and carry out cutting-edge microplastics research. For the first time the film turns the camera on the extent of the plastic pollution crisis in one of the most remote places on Earth.
“We are about as far away from civilization as one can get. Yet here, all around us,
is evidence of our daily lives on land. Our choices. Our purchases. This is your old toothbrush,
my empty shampoo bottle, the lid to his coffee cup.”
– Michelle Byle, packaging designer
"One of the things that people have asked a lot since I got back from the expedition is “Did you reach the island?” Or “What was the island like?”. That’s what many of us think the great Pacific garbage patch, the densest accumulation of oceans plastic in the world, is - a floating island three times the size of France - but it’s not. Rather than a solid mass, it’s a much more alarming accumulation of some larger pieces of plastic but also trillions of pieces of microplastics, broken down from our plastic waste. They are potentially a much bigger hazard and simply scooping them out of the water isn't an option"
- Eleanor Church, filmmaker and photographer
