On 17 November 2025, the documentary Europe’s Lithium Paradox will premiere globally on Journeyman Pictures’ YouTube channel, following a successful series of over ten avant-première screenings across Europe and Brazil. The online release coincides with the final screening in Brussels (Cinema Aventure, 17 November, 18h), held on the eve of the official launch of the annual EU Raw Materials Week. This 56-minute authored documentary – already the recipient of five international awards and nominations – offers a powerful and timely exploration of lithium’s pivotal role in Europe’s ambition to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent.
(download pdf version of press release here)
Getting out of the trenches
Throughout the series of avant-première events, the film’s presenter – Peter Tom Jones (SIM² KU Leuven) – reiterated his desire to build bridges between European civil society and the mining and metals production industry in Europe:
“Europe stands at a critical crossroads, facing the growing threat of complete dependence on third countries for essential metals and minerals like lithium – resources vital to achieving its climate goals. Yet, despite the urgency, progress remains stalled, trapped in a trench warfare of conflicting perspectives. On one side, civil society and environmental movements fire warnings about ecological risks. On the other side, the metals industry defends its role in securing Europe’s energy transition. Caught in the crossfire, policymakers struggle to navigate the battlefield.
It is time to break free from the trenches. Given the on-going critical minerals cold war – where the US and China have relegated Europe to become merely a geopolitical spectator – Europe must get its act together. Europe must move beyond entrenched positions and forge a united front – one where collaboration replaces conflict, and a shared vision propels us forward. This calls for decisive action: strengthening legal frameworks, driving technological innovation, enhancing transparent communication, and ensuring genuine public engagement that transforms local communities from bystanders into beneficiaries. By embracing a new Responsible Mining v2.0 model, Europe has the opportunity to reconcile its ambitious climate targets with the need to protect local environments and cultures. But as time presses on, we must make haste, slowly.”
The film
Lithium is the cornerstone metal driving Europe’s transition to climate neutrality. Yet, despite the continent’s rich lithium reserves, no operational lithium mines or full-scale refineries exist. In a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape where critical minerals are increasingly weaponised, Europe’s total reliance on third countries exposes it to significant vulnerabilities.
Europe’s Lithium Paradox delves into this contradiction. The presenter embarks on a road trip, exploring potential mining sites across Europe. He gets the unique opportunity to visit and film Umicore’s cutting-edge battery smelter recycling process (the first time ever a film crew was allowed in!) and Metso’s innovative lithium refining approach, both of which sidestep many environmental pitfalls seen in traditional lithium processing and recycling methods elsewhere in the world.
Furthermore, the film also examines demand-side management strategies, including transport modal shifts, aimed at reducing reliance on primary lithium extraction. Through stunning footage from across Europe and thought-provoking discussions with a diverse range of stakeholders, Europe’s Lithium Paradox presents a nuanced view of Europe’s lithium dilemma while posing pressing questions for a world where simple solutions are no longer available:
Are European companies truly leading the way in environmental and social standards?
Will the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act and its Strategic Projects pave a sustainable path forward?
Can Europe resolve its lithium paradox while balancing its climate ambitions with the need for local environmental and cultural preservation?
Five awards and nominations
Following the launch of the film’s trailer (12 May 2025 watch trailer here), the documentary has been the recipient of 5 awards and official selections at international film festivals:
Best Environment and Climate Film at the Berlin Kiez Film Festival
Honourable Mention Award at My Name is Climate Film Festival
Official selection as Finalist by British Columbia Environmental Film Festival Society
Official selection for 2025 Big Syn International Film Festival London (UN SDG-endorsed sustainability film festival)
Official selection for tve Global Sustainability Films Awards in the Documentary Impact Award category
Final avant-première event before YouTube launch (sold out)
Following a successful series of avant-première screenings in Delft, Antwerp, Lisbon, Jequitinhonha, Berlin, Freiberg, Tallinn, Heverlee, Leuven, Copenhagen, Hasselt – and a public television broadcast on Finland’s YLE TV1 (30 October 2025) – the final pre-release event of Europe’s Lithium Paradox will take place in Brussels on 17 November at Cinema Aventure (Rue des Fripiers 15). The timing and location are highly symbolic: the screening occurs just one day before the official opening of the EU Raw Materials Week at Hotel La Plaza.
This year’s Raw Materials Week unfolds against a backdrop of escalating geopolitical tensions. Europe’s critical raw materials landscape has worsened, marked by China’s latest wave of export restrictions and the United States’ assertive countermeasures, including state-backed investments in lithium and rare earth mining, price floors, and guaranteed offtake agreements. In this context, the KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals (SIM² KU Leuven), Euromines, and Horizon Europe projects EXCEED and LITHOS are co-hosting the Brussels screening and a high-level panel debate.
The panel will feature leading voices from industry, policy, civil society, and academia: Alicia Polo y La Borda (The Copper Mark), Emily Ritchey (Transport & Environment), Rolf Kuby (Euromines), and Peter Tom Jones (SIM² KU Leuven), moderated by Filip De Rycke. The event is fully booked for general participants, but accredited journalists are still welcome and may register via this link: https://kuleuven.sim2.be/registration-form-europes-lithium-paradox-event-in-brussels/.
Immediately following the panel, Europe’s Lithium Paradox will be released globally on Journeyman Pictures’ YouTube channel. Until now, the film has been available via Amazon, Vimeo on Demand, Apple TV, JMAN.tv (https://www.journeyman.tv/film/8842/europes-lithium-paradox), YLE Areena (Finland), Proximus PICKX (Belgium) and other streaming platforms.
Supporting organisations
This documentary was co-developed by SIM², the KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals. This interdisciplinary institute spans fields such as geology, chemistry, metallurgy, engineering, law, and economics. As one of the leading academic institutes in Europe, SIM² is dedicated to advancing the sustainable production and recycling of critical metals through research, education, and wider-society learning. The latter includes the creation of science communication films & author’s documentaries. Notable examples are the award-winning Made In Europe: From Mine to Electric Vehicle (2023), The Sami Perspective (2024), Europe’s Mining Renaissance: A Catalyst for Climate Neutrality (2024), and Not In My Country, Serbia’s Lithium Dilemma (2025). Recently, SIM² was formally endorsed and commended by the International Panel that evaluated all official KU Leuven Institutes, including SIM² (‘Strong Pass’ received), for its wider-society learning strategy.
For the Europe’s Lithium Paradox documentary, SIM² leverages its internationally recognised expertise in lithium exploration, extraction, processing, refining, and recycling. SIM² has been and continues to be involved in numerous fundamental science, strategic basic science, and applied research projects at KU Leuven, as well as Flemish-funded, EU-funded, and bilateral projects. SIM² has a track record in all possible primary and secondary lithium sources, including lithium hard-rock ores, (salt lake and geothermal) lithium brines, lithium-clay deposits, and end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and derived black mass.
For more information, visit https://kuleuven.sim2.be/
This documentary was co-funded through the Horizon Europe project LITHOS. LITHOS directly contributes to the 1st and 2nd CRMA benchmarks (10% domestic extraction; 40% domestic processing). LITHOS processes and refines the ores from three “Strategic Projects” in terms of domestic battery-grade LiOH·H2O production: two spodumene-bearing pegmatite cases (Keliber’s deposits in the Kaustinen region, Finland; Savannah’s Barroso Lithium Project, Portugal) and one Rare-Metal Granite (RMG) case (Imerys’ Beauvoir mine in France). LITHOS triggers innovations along the value chain – mineral processing, concentrate pre-treatment & hydrometallurgical refining – making it possible to deal with different levels and types of impurities in non-spodumene Li minerals (lepidolite & petalite). LITHOS gives specific attention to closed-loop water systems in the mineral processing.
More information: https://lithos-horizon.eu/lithos-project/
This documentary was co-funded through the Horizon Europe project EXCEED. EXCEED’s meta-objective is to unleash the full CRM and industrial mineral potential of Europe’s vast Li LCT-pegmatite and Rare-Metal Granite hard-rock resources. Using four premier European pegmatite and RMG case studies, EXCEED develops, upscales & demonstrates cost-effective, sustainable and responsible extraction routes for recovering the CRMs and industrial minerals as by-products from Li-bearing hard-rock ores. A suite of CRMs will be extracted and refined, while diverse industrial minerals will be refined and valorised in low-carbon building materials.
More information: https://exceed-horizon.eu/
Additional information
So far the complete film was only available “on demand” (i.e., behind a paywall) on Journeyman Pictures’ website (along with a suite of streaming channels as well as Finland’s YLE TV1/AREENA). The film will be made available to the general public (for free) on 17 November. Due to previous contract the global YouTube version will be geoblocked in Finland (YLE AREENA) and Belgium (Proximus). Contact Journeyman Pictures directly or Peter Tom Jones through his LinkedIn profile. Journeyman page on Europe’s Lithium Paradox: https://www.journeyman.tv/film/8842/europes-lithium-paradox
Key info
Film crew: Director/Script: Stijn van Baarle (STORYRUNNER), Presenter/Co-scriptwriter: Peter Tom Jones (SIM² KU Leuven), Cameramen: Michael Van de Velde & Jochen Maes; Sound technicians: Casimir De Kimpe, Jeroen De Vriese. Featuring, amongst many others, Julia Poliscanova (T&E), Alexandre Lima (University of Porto), Hildegard Bentele (Member of the European Parliament), Janne Karonen (Metso), Charles Stuyck (representing Umicore), Toni Eerola (Finnish Geological Survey, GTK).
Funding and disclaimer
Funding for this documentary comes from Horizon Europe project funding (LITHOS & EXCEED), supplemented by internal SIM² funding and additional crowdfunding managed through KU Leuven’s crowdfunding platform. No external company commissioned or financed this film.
Disclaimer EU: Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. EU.
Disclaimer SIM²: SIM² has no financial interest in the publication of this documentary. It will not receive royalties or commercial income from the airing of this film on television stations, streaming platforms, or social media channels. The production and dissemination of this documentary are solely part of SIM²’s mandated commitment to wider-society learning and its role as communication & dissemination Work Package leader in the Horizon Europe projects LITHOS & EXCEED. The producers of this film undertook all reasonable efforts to present the message of the interviewees in an accurate and fair manner. Any views and opinions expressed by the interviewees are their own. Interviewees bear no responsibility for statements of other interviewees nor for any representations made or conclusions drawn in this documentary.
Storyrunner
Storyrunner is a video production agency with a strong focus on “science & sustainability”. Turning complex information into a fascinating stories for a wide audience is our specialty. We make documentaries but also shorter videos with (or without) graphic animations for TV channels, universities and European research projects. For more information: https://www.storyrunner.be/about
Journeyman Pictures
The film is distributed by Journeyman Pictures. For over twenty years Journeyman has distributed and co-produced, provocative, profound and original factual content, working with the top players in the industry. Journeyman is one of the leading independent suppliers of award winning stories to the global theatrical, broadcast, digital and educational markets. For more information, visit https://www.journeyman.tv/about/about-us
About the film’s presenter
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Dr. Peter Tom Jones earned his Master’s degree in Environmental and Chemical Engineering from KU Leuven in 1996, followed by a PhD in metallurgy (stainless steelmaking) in 2001. After working as a postdoctoral researcher until 2008, he secured a permanent position through KU Leuven’s Industrial Research Fund as a Research & Innovation Manager specializing in Sustainable Metallurgy. Since 2020, Jones has served as the director of the KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals (SIM²), an interdisciplinary research hub of more than 400 experts dedicated to the exploration, extraction, processing, refining, and recycling of energy-transition metals crucial for clean energy and mobility. He has co-authored or contributed to around 40 granted European projects on critical metals and sustainable metallurgical processing, with a strong emphasis on lithium, cobalt/nickel, and rare earth elements. His deep-rooted interest in the intersection of environmentalism and metallurgy has shaped his work for over 30 years, focusing on the role of critical metals in achieving climate neutrality. He has (co-)authored seven books addressing climate and environmental crises, as well as the transition to climate neutrality (Het Klimaatboek, Klimaatcrisis, Terra Incognita, Terra Reversa, and others). Since 2022, Jones has expanded his impact by presenting authored documentaries that explore the connection between metals and the climate transition. His filmography includes Responsible Mining in Europe (2022), Made in Europe: From Mine to Electric Vehicle (2023 & 2024 – 3 awards/nominations), The Sami Perspective (2024), Europe’s Mining Renaissance (2024), Not In My Country: Serbia’s Lithium Dilemma (February 2025 – 6 awards/nominations), and Europe’s Lithium Paradox (May 2025 – 5 awards/nominations). Committed to living his values, Jones has been an environmentally motivated vegetarian for 30 years and is an avid urban cyclist.
