A new film is being screened at the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro on September 30 at 6:30 p.m.: ECONOCLAST: HERMAN DALY AND THE GOSPEL OF GROWTH. The new release of veteran documentarian John de Graaf (“Affluenza”), the film is already winning acclaim. Admission is by suggested donation of $10.

“Econoclast” is an 45-minute portrait of Herman Daly, the famous economist who challenged his discipline’s focus on economic growth. Daly, who died in 2022, is credited as the first mainstream economist to point out that ever-increasing economic growth is unsustainable on a finite planet, and results in great inequality. Daly launched the new field of Ecological Economists, and directly inspired contemporary organizations like the Post-Carbon Institute, and “Doughnut Economics.

The film combines stunning photography with dynamic interviews of economists, political leaders and activists who ask us to choose other goals for our economy, including happiness, justice, social connection and sustainability.  Prominent interviewees include former Toronto, Canada mayor David Miller, Daly biographer Peter Victor and “Doughnut Economics” creator Kate Raworth.

The film will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with the film’s director, John de Graaf. John de Graaf has been producing documentaries, primarily for public television, since 1977. More than 15 of his programs have been broadcast nationally in primetime on PBS, including the one-hour documentary, “Affluenza.” Q&A will be facilitated by the co-hosts of the event, Chuck Collins and Tristan Roberts, on behalf of event sponsor the Institute for Policy Studies. Collins oversees IPS’s Program on Income Inequality and the Common Good, and Roberts is a research fellow there. The screening is an opening event in the “Slow Living Revival” series exploring community resilience through local events. For more information, email Tristan Roberts at tristan@tristanroberts.org.