We very much liked this documentary about Mohamed Nasheed, the charming president of Maldives, a country made up of about 1200 islands south and a little west of the southern tip of India. After a democratic election brings him to leadership following a dictatorship, Nasheed then has to address the imminent peril that climate change will inflict on his lands, that is, to put them under water with only a slight rise of sea level. Shot on location in Maldives, India, Copenhagen (in the winter--there's a contrast!), London, and New York, it brings home its message in big and small ways. I particularly liked the segue of a shot of the "coast" of Manhattan from one of the rivers cut to the coast of one of the Maldives islands. It's all closer than we think.
Directed and photographed by Jon Shenk (director/cinematographer of The Lost Boys of Sudan (2003) and cinematographer or camera department member on many other documentaries), its beautiful images and unforgettable story make it well worth your time. Audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival thought so and voted it the winner of the People's Choice Documentary Award. We saw it ten days ago in one of only two screenings at our local University. Here's a list of where it will be playing next. Or save it to your netflix queue.
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