DOCUMENTARIES > PREMIERES' 12 > THERE ONCE WAS AN ISLAND
June
Image Gallery
Trailer
THERE ONCE WAS AN ISLAND
Director: Briar March
Nationality: New Zealand (2010)
Duration: 80 minutes
Genre: Environment
Original version in English, Takuu and Tok Pisin subtitled in Catalan or Spanish Music: The Sound Room, Mark Smythe
Sound: Jeffrey Holdaway
Editors: Prisca Bouchet, Briar March
Producer: Lyn Collie
Director: Briar March
SYNOPSIS
What if your community had to decide whether to leave their homeland forever and there was no help available? This is the reality for the culturally unique Polynesian community of Takuu, a tiny low-lying atoll in the South Western Pacific. As a terrifying tidal flood rips through their already damaged home, the Takuu community experiences the devastating effects of climate change first hand. In this verite-style film, three intrepid characters Telo, Endar and Satty, allow us into their lives and their culture and show us first hand the human impact of an environmental crisis.
Two scientists, oceanographer John Hunter and geomorphologist Scott Smithers, investigate the situation with our characters and consider the impact of climate change on communities without access to resources or support. Intimate observational scenes allow Teloo, Endar and Satty to take us on their personal journeys as they consider whether to move to an uncertain future in Bougainville or to stay on Takuu and fight for a different, but equally uncertain, outcome.
AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
Festival Int. du Film Documentaire Océanien – Gran Premio del Jurado. Tahití, 2010.
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival – Premio Hechos Naturales. EEUU, 2010.
Millennium International Documentary Film Festival – Premio al Mejor Mensaje de Desarollo. Bélgica, 2010.
Leipzig Documentary Film Festival - Leipziger Ring Award. Alemania, 2010
