Population Boom director Werner Boote really caught our eye with the documentary Plastic Planet. He's at it again with this film, an important film that asks important questions in rather disarming yet clear ways.

It all comes down to this "How many people are too many?"

The facts seem fairly simple. A mere 25 years ago, the global population was at 5 billion people. Today, it's at 7 billion. With dwindling resources, increasing areas enveloped in toxic waste, ongoing issues with hunger, and the threat of climate change, one simply has to ask if it all results from overpopulation. To find out, Boote travels the globe examining both the facts and the myths of population yet doing so with an open mind and a quiet sense of humor. Speaking with the expected range of people, from scientists to researchers to activists, Boote is unafraid to challenge conventional wisdom and comes up with a rather surprising conclusion.

Having experienced solid success on the festival circuit, Population Boom has been picked up by indie distributor First Run Features for a DVD/VOD release on April 14th that should widen its audience even further. Boote truly did travel the globe for this film including stops in the United States, Bangladesh, India, Mexico, China, Austria, Kenya, and Japan. Boote is a rather refreshing director, because you may very well think about the likes of a Michael Moore or a Morgan Spurlock while you're watching his film you'll also realize that Boote avoids histrionics and doesn't cheapen his fact-finding by going excessive on the entertainment route. Instead, he takes what could be difficult material and he makes it accessible and entertaining enough to drive the point home.

Population Boom is a fairly simple and straightforward film overall, but it's an important film with much to say that should prove pleasing to fans of Boote's Plastic Planet. With intelligence and wit, Boote once again takes a global issue and makes it a personal one.

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic