Docuseek | The Age of Aluminum

Aluminum is an integral part of our daily lives, from cooking pans and computers, to soda cans, cosmetics and vaccines. But how much do we know about its impact on human health and the environment?

Based on Bert Ehgartner’s groundbreaking book Dirty Little Secret – The Aluminum Files, The Age of Aluminum is the first film to explore the metal’s little-known darker side. Through interviews with leading scientists and researchers, along with the personal stories of several individuals, the film reveals how aluminum exposure has triggered serious health consequences and environmental damage. Representatives of the aluminum industry defend its safety record.

Long known as a neurotoxin, many scientists suspect aluminum is linked to such modern scourges as breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, allergies and autism. The documentary looks at how aluminum may be the “universal toxin” underlying the increase in epidemic levels of chronic illness and age-related neurological disorders.

Aluminum mining and manufacturing have also created acute environmental problems in several parts of the world. The film documents the devastating effects of aluminum mining in South America, as well as environmental disasters in Hungary and the UK.

Ultimately, The Age of Aluminum asks, why isn’t more research urgently being conducted on aluminum and human health, and what can we do now to avoid its negative impact on our lives?

"Highly Recommended. The film juxtaposes high praise for aluminum’s role in the many amenities of modern life with the unstated downside, the dirty little secret.... Perhaps the most challenging, and interesting, aspect of the film is the appearance of dueling experts—highly trained scientists on both sides of the issue."
— Educational Media Reviews Online

"Recommended. Offers an eye-opening perspective on an element that—in its many forms—has become a part of everyday life."
— Video Librarian

"Thorough and convincing...shows the surprisingly varied and troubling roles aluminum plays in our lives. A film that strongly deserves wider exposure. Eye-opening. Disturbing."
— Hollywood Reporter

“The Age of Aluminum puts us on notice. The evidence is alarming, yet the film’s approach,,,, is an even-keeled, determined story line.”
— Film Threat

“Eye-opening and deeply sad, pointing out that we are indeed the architects of our own destruction, seeing convenience and ease, despite the destruction that it causes to ourselves and to the planet as a whole.”
— Lisa Derrick, Firedoglake.com

"A thought provoking film...will provide many debatable topics about this shiny metal, its origin, and its usage. Questions are raised in this documentary about the potential biological effects of this element on and in the human body and even more broadly, looking further at the ecological catastrophes produced from mining and processing the bauxite ore into the metal."
— NSTA Recommends

Citation

Select a citation style:

Main credits

Langbein, Kurt (film producer)
Ehgartner, Bert (film director)

Other credits

Cinematography, Christian Roth, Gregor Centner; editing, Angela Freingruber; music, Thomas Hohl.

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

Aluminum,Public Health; "The Age of Aluminum"; The Video Project; "Die Akte Aluminium Ongelmana alumiini Problemet aluminium Planète alu Die Akte Alu";

Main content

The Age of Aluminum

Citation

Main credits

Other credits

Docuseek subjects

Distributor subjects

Keywords