A new film by internationally acclaimed director Nick Broomfield has just been launched online, celebrating the spirit of direct action. It focuses on six Greenpeace volunteers who in 2008 were tried and acquitted for climbing a chimney at Kingsnorth power station in the UK, in protest at the government's plans to build a new generation of coal-fired power stations.

Produced by Bright Green Pictures, 'A Time Comes' reveals how the six were arrested for their action and charged with causing £30,000 worth of criminal damage to the tower because they painted "Gordon" down its side.

The subsequent trial of the six activists took place in September 2008.  The thoughtfully staged Greenpeace defence included testimony from a NASA Director and leading climate scientist, and from environmentalist Zac Goldsmith.

In a ground-breaking decision that reverberated around the world, the jury found the activists not guilty because the damage they did to the smokestack was outweighed by the harm done to the planet by emissions from the power station. The New York Times listed the defence as one of the ideas that defined 2008.  Check it out here:

A Time Comes - the story of the Kingsnorth Six from Greenpeace UK on Vimeo.

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