Discover the genesis of the project"I am one man among seven billion others. For the past 40 years, I have been photographing our planet and its human diversity, and I have the feeling that humanity is not making any progress. We can’t always manage to live together.
Why is that?
I didn’t look for an answer in statistics or analysis, but in man himself."Yann Arthus-Bertrand
HUMAN is a collection of stories about and images of our world, offering an immersion to the core of what it means to be human. Through these stories full of love and happiness, as well as hatred and violence, HUMAN brings us face to face with the Other, making us reflect on our lives. From stories of everyday experiences to accounts of the most unbelievable lives, these poignant encounters share a rare sincerity and underline who we are – our darker side, but also what is most noble in us, and what is universal. Our Earth is shown at its most sublime through never-before-seen aerial images accompanied by soaring music, resulting in an ode to the beauty of the world, providing a moment to draw breath and for introspection.
HUMAN is a politically engaged work which allows us to embrace the human condition and to reflect on the meaning of our existence.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand is a photographer and renowned specialist in aerial imagery. He has written several books, including “The Earth from the Air”, which has been translated into 24 languages and has sold more than three million copies.
In 2009, he made his first film, “Home”. This inventory of the planet was seen by more than 600 million people around the world. Available for free from YouTube, it is continuing its career. It is the most successful environmental film of the decade.
“7 Billion Others”, a portrait of humanity today, has so far been seen by 350 million people. This major exhibition that was inaugurated at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2009, before going on to travel the world, is a personal reflection developed over the space of 30 years.
It was the first step on the path that led Yann Arthus-Bertrand to make “HUMAN”.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand is also known for his commitment to the ecological battle. For five years, he hosted the famous show “Vu du Ciel” which explored environmental issues for the public broadcaster, francetélévisions.
In 2011, he made the film Planet Ocean with Michaël Pitiot, in which his incredible aerial photography accompanied by gripping footage from award-winning marine photographers took audiences on a unique journey into the very heart of our blue planet.
Since 2005 and the creation of the GoodPlanet Foundation, Yann Arthus-Bertrand has been committed to educating about the environment and the fight against climate change and its consequences. This commitment led to him being named a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program on 22 April 2009.
Since the start of the HUMAN adventure, we wanted this film to be different.
Thanks to the unconditional and exceptional support of the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, French TV France 2 and Google, this project produced by the GoodPlanet Foundation, isaccessible to the widest possible audience throughout the world.
All available platforms, all networks, all means of communication were used to gives the project a resounding echo.
Available everywhere and to everyone, HUMAN is more than one experience. this project is a baton that citizens of the world can pass on as a symbol of their commitment to greater solidarity.
This is a sizeable challenge, given the project’s ambitions, and is only possible with the participation of all: men and women active in the charity, cultural, and solidarity sectors, as well as simple citizens who want to get involved and help us launch this movement and become Ambassadors of the Living Together initiative by organizing screenings and sharing the experience on social networks with the hashtags :
@Humanthemovie Human on Twitter Human on Facebook Human on Youtube
Human is the result of a unique collaboration and production. For the first time, two non-profit organizations have come together to enable an exceptional project to come into being.
The Bettencourt Schueller Foundation fully financed the production of this cinematographic work for philanthropic reasons, with the aim of giving it rights-free to the GoodPlanet Foundation, which drove the project, and which, with the participation France Télévisions, sets out to distribute HUMAN in the freest conditions to the widest possible audience.
This exceptional partnership allowed Yann Arthus-Bertrand to create a highly original work, and to release it in the most accessible conditions and to the widest possible audience.
For almost 30 years, the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation has been using film to serve the projects it supports, in the life sciences, the arts, and social actions. By supporting Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s HUMAN project, the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation is continuing its commitment to “valuable images”. These are images that inspire us to share a collective approach to renewing our relationship with our environment – either natural or manmade. They have been created by major directors whose personal vocations fit with a desire to celebrate the beauty of the living world, to raise awareness of the fragility of our environment, and to promote a humanistic vision of our future.
This commitment follows in the same vein as the other cinematographic works supported by the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, including Le Syndrome du Titanic by Nicolas Hulot and Jean-Albert Lièvre, Winged Migration, Océans and Les Saisons by Jacques Perrin, and La Glace et le Ciel by Luc Jacquet.
Without the support of the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, HUMAN would never have been made and would not have benefited from this international, multi-support roll-out, which was itself a key condition for the Foundation’s backing of such a project.
The GoodPlanet Foundation is a non-profit created in 2005. It is presided over by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, and seeks to raise awareness among the general public about environmental issues. It offers realistic and optimistic solutions drawing on a series of programs destined to put ecology and living in harmony at the heart of our thinking.
The GoodPlanet Foundation is a non-profit created in 2005. It is presided over by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, and seeks to raise awareness among the general public about environmental issues. It offers realistic and optimistic solutions drawing on a series of programs destined to put ecology and living in harmony at the heart of our thinking.
“I created the GoodPlanet Foundation to raise awareness, and to inform and educate the general public of all ages and viewpoints. But also to carry out concrete actions and to inspire people to get involved with projects that help respect Mankind and our planet.”
Yann Arthus-Bertrand, President of the GoodPlanet Foundation.
GoodPlanet is behind all the initiatives – educations, web-based, books, etc. – which accompany HUMAN, and is coordinating the film’s distribution strategy.
True to our convictions, all these shoots were carbon-offset through the GoodPlanet Foundation’s Action Carbone Solidaire program.
To find out more about the Action Carbone Solidaire program, go to :
