Read climate change expert Mark Hertsgaard's illuminating article Fallen Climate Superstar: The Fight for Democracy and Survival in The Maldives

This spectacular documentary portrays Mohamed Nasheed, president of the Maldives, and his fervent campaign to save his country—the lowest-lying in the world—from disappearing. After becoming the Maldives’ first freely elected leader in 30 years, Nasheed must tackle his nation’s most formidable adversary, global warming. With unprecedented access, the film follows him as he travels to Copenhagen for the 2009 Climate Summit where he urges leaders around the globe to curb their emissions and help save his country from sinking into the ocean.

Part of the Film Society’s Global Threats Film Series, made possible with support from the Skoll Global Threats Fund.


TRAILER



Followed by an in-depth Q&A with the filmmaker and special guests:

Director/cinematographer Jon Shenk was the director of photography for the Academy Award-winning Smile Pinki (2009). He directed and photographed the Independent Spirit Award winner Lost Boys of Sudan (2003, SFIFF 2003). He has produced and photographed dozens of documentaries for PBS, BBC, A&E, Bravo, CBS, NBC and National Geographic Television. He has been nominated twice for Emmys for his cinematography. Shenk earned his Master’s degree in documentary filmmaking from Stanford University.

Mark Hertsgaard is the author of six books that have been translated into sixteen languages, including HOT:  Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth and Earth Odyssey: Around the World In Search of Our Environmental Future. As an independent journalist, he has reported from twenty-five countries for leading outlets worldwide, including the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Time, the Nation, BBC, Le Monde Diplomatique and L’espresso.



USA, 2011, 101 min. Photographed by Jon Shenk.