USA,
2005, 90 min
Shown in 2006
CREDITS
- dir
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Chris Paine
- prod
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Jessie Deeter
- cam
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Thaddeus Wadleigh
- editor
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Michael Kovalenko
- source
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Sony Pictures Classics, 550 Madison Ave 8th Floor, New York, NY 10022 FAX: 212-833-4190. EMAIL: sony_classics@spe.sony.com.
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COMMENTS
Chris Paine and Jessie Deeter in attendance.
OTHER
Fashioned like a tongue-in-cheek murder mystery, Who Killed the Electric Car? sets out to uncover just who is responsible for the demise of this ill-fated vehicle. The spirited film runs through the prime suspects, including car companies, oil companies, the government and consumers. Beginning in the early ’90s, under pressure from the California Air Resource Board, car manufacturers were forced to develop nonpolluting vehicles... [notably] the EV-1, available for lease in the mid-’90s. After less than ten years, citing lack of interest by the public, the automaker took the vehicle off the market and officially discontinued the project. Government policy was rescinded, and currently... automakers are crushing all remaining electric vehicles. Filmmaker Chris Paine follows electric car activists who are desperately trying to save the few remaining cars from being destroyed and hoping to change policy. A very timely subject, Who Killed the Electric Car? serves as a potent reminder that the powers that be will stop at nothing to maintain their position in the world. The film is an informative and thoroughly entertaining journey into the world of environmentally conscious technology and the cars that may one day be here... again.
—Lisa Viola, Sundance Film Festival
FACTOID #44
Fred Astaire (alas without his top hat and tails) became the first actor honored with an in-person tribute at the Festival October 30, 1966. Astaire so enjoyed his interview with Festival programmer Albert Johnson, the balletic performer danced with his host onstage.
