The film is part of FilmFestDC's "Justice Matters" series.
Monday, April 16, 2012
"The Island President" at Filmfest DC: the story of Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed and his leadership on climate change
Tonight, Filmfest DC sponsored a showing at Landmark
E-Street (sold out) and panel discussion of Jon Shenk’s film “The Island
President”. The country is Maldives, the
lowest lying nation on Earth, south of India, comprising about 2000 islands. The people resemble those of India in
appearance.
Mohamed Nasheed was elected in 2008, at the age of 41, but
after the film was made, resigned in early 2012 because of unrest of
Islam. The film documents Nasheed’s
drive to protect his nation from climate change, particularly at the December 2009
United Nations Climate Change Conference (site)
in Copenhagen, and all the other steps that led to it. (There is a scene showing Nasheed smoking a cigarette. How depressing! But the movie also shows him conferring mate in a chess game when playing a computer.)
The film covers the geopolitics of the conference, with
China’s reluctance, and the moral struggle between consumption habits in the
developed world, in developing nations (like China and India), and smaller
countries. There was an agreement, but
it was essentially non-binding.
The film shows Maldives as an attractive country, and the
capital Male covers its island with modern bit low-rising buildings, including
a mosque. The nation experienced severe
damage from the 2004 tsunami.
The Q&A mentioned the critical carbon dioxide
levels: around 292 before the Industrial
Revolution, 350 (link) (the highest acceptable
stability point) and 392, after which Maldives could not exist. Much of the developing world (Bangladesh) is
near the sea in flood plains.
There was discussion of the individual “moral”
problems. The time line seems so long
that many older people may believe they will not be affected, so this becomes a
generational thing. But the effects of climate change are already being felt,
as with violent weather now.
The audience had some people that were arrested at the
anti-pipeline demonstration last August (see March 18 review of “Dirty Oil”).
The film, produced by IVTS and Actual Fil,s, will be
distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films. The
HDCAM photography was sumptuous, but the stereo did not seem to be on. The official site is here.
The film is part of FilmFestDC's "Justice Matters" series.
The film is part of FilmFestDC's "Justice Matters" series.
Wikipedia attribution link for photo of Male.
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