There Once Was An Island

Director: Briar March | Countries of production: New Zealand | Year: 2010 | Length: 81 min
Language: English

The community of Takuu, a tiny low-lying island in the South Western Pacific, are forced to face the devastating effects of climate change first hand, as a terrifying tidal flood rips through their already damaged homes.

 

While three of the islands residents, Teloo, Endar and Satty, take us in to their lives and their culture and show us the human impact of an environmental crisis, two scientists, oceanographer John Hunter and geomorphologist Scott Smithers, investigate the situation and consider the impact of climate change on communities without access to resources or support.

This film gives a human face to the direct impacts of climate change in the Pacific, challenging audiences everywhere to consider their own relationship to the earth and the other people on it.

The filmmakers document the intimate journey of a people struggling to maintain their place in our world, as their home slowly disappears beneath the breaking waves. This illustrates a broader narrative about the global impacts of climate change; a story in which, ultimately, we all play a part.
The Lumière Reader

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