A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of watching The Island President at a movie screening in Norfolk at the Naro Cinema. These are my thoughts of the movie and its message. 

 

This documentary film highlights the political career of Mohamed Nasheed, president of the Maldives. The Maldives is a cluster of islands in the Indian Ocean that, as a result of global warming-induced sea-level rise, may soon be totally underwater according to climate scientists. Throughout the film, viewers watch President Nasheed as he pleads with the international community to make a commitment to limit their carbon footprint in order to save his native homeland.

The narrative is simple. The filmmakers’ imagery is powerful. As a viewer, you can feel the gut-wrenching emotion of a man literally fighting for the survival of his friends, family, and entire nation. Meanwhile, the rest of the world barely acknowledges their plight. The movie moves at a solid pace and the story is well told. For that, The Island President gets a solid B+ on the Dawone Robinson CineScore.

The location for this screening was very appropriate. While in Norfolk, I had the opportunity to ever so briefly look around neighborhoods that have been affected by rising sea levels. Sea-level rise isn’t just a problem for nations in the middle of the ocean. It’s affecting our communities here at home. Families are already moving from their homes due to floods occurring at unprecedented frequencies and strength. As the waters creep up, we will need to redraw our maps as our coastlines gradually erode.

We have the power to be a leader here in Virginia and change our policies that will help save our planet as we know it. Nationally, our country can be an influential player to get other countries to see the importance of this issue. If we fail to do so, millions of people all over the world will suffer as a result of our own shortsightedness and foolishness.