Award Winner
TIFF 2011 People’s Choice Award for Documentary
Opens in Toronto at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
Friday, June 15 – Thursday, June 28, 2012
Award winning documentary filmmaker Jon Shenk’s (The Lost Boys of Sudan) “The Island President” tells the story of President Mohamed Nasheed of theMaldives, a man confronting a problem greater than any other world leader has ever faced – the literal survival of his country and everyone in it.
After leading a twenty-year pro-democracy movement against the brutal regime of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom,surviving repeated imprisonments and torture,Nasheed became president at 41 in 2008,only to encounter a far more implacable adversary than a dictator – the ocean. Considered the lowest lying country in the world,a rise of a mere three metres in sea level would inundate theMaldives,rendering the country practically unlivable. Unless dramatic changes are made by the larger countries of the world,theMaldives,like a modern Atlantis,will disappear under the waves.
TheMaldivesis a country like no other. A Shangri-la of breathtakingly beautiful turquoise reefs,beaches,and palm trees,theMaldivescomprises 1200 coral islands off the Indian sub-continent,of which 200 are inhabited.
Nasheed brought democracy to theMaldivesin 2008 as head of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) which he co-founded in 2003 while in exile inSri Lanka. Nasheed,a popular and charismatic leader proved to be an unusually shrewd and sophisticated politician who grasped that the only way he could stand up to the catastrophic issues of climate change facing his country would be to take the Maldives’ cause to the world stage.
Considered the lowest lying country in the world, a rise of a mere three metres in sea level would inundate theMaldives, rendering the country practically unlivable. Unless dramatic changes are made by the larger countries of the world, theMaldives, like a modern Atlantis,will disappear under the waves.
TheMaldivesis a country like no other. A Shangri-la of breathtakingly beautiful turquoise reefs,beaches,and palm trees,theMaldivescomprises 1200 coral islands off the Indian sub-continent,of which 200 are inhabited.
Nasheed brought democracy to theMaldivesin 2008 as head of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) which he co-founded in 2003 while in exile inSri Lanka. Nasheed,a popular and charismatic leader proved to be an unusually shrewd and sophisticated politician who grasped that the only way he could stand up to the catastrophic issues of climate change facing his country would be to take the Maldives’ cause to the world stage.
The Island President captures Nasheed’s first year of office, culminating in his trip to the Copenhagen Climate Summit in 2009, where the film provides a rare glimpse into the political horse-trading that goes on at such a top-level global assembly. Nasheed is candid about revealing his strategies – leveraging theMaldives’ underdog position, harnessing the power of media, and overcoming deadlocks through an appeal to unity with other developing nations. When hope fades for a written accord to be signed, Nasheed makes a stirring speech which salvages an agreement. Despite the modest size of his country, Mohamed Nasheed has become one of the leading international voices for urgent action on climate change.
In this age of political consultants and talking points,it’s almost unheard of for filmmakers to get the astonishing degree of access that director Jon Shenk and his team secured from Nasheed in The Island President. Over a year, Shenk and his crew filmed Nasheed for 78 days over five continents. “We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into at the start,” says Nasheed, “I thought they just wanted to do a longer interview than normal and would leave after a few days. I didn’t expect them to stay for a year!”
The Island President captures Nasheed’s first year of office, culminating in his trip to the Copenhagen Climate Summit in 2009, where the film provides a rare glimpse into the political horse-trading that goes on at such a top-level global assembly. Nasheed is candid about revealing his strategies – leveraging theMaldives’ underdog position, harnessing the power of media, and overcoming deadlocks through an appeal to unity with other developing nations. When hope fades for a written accord to be signed, Nasheed makes a stirring speech which salvages an agreement. Despite the modest size of his country, Mohamed Nasheed has become one of the leading international voices for urgent action on climate change.
In this age of political consultants and talking points,it’s almost unheard of for filmmakers to get the astonishing degree of access that director Jon Shenk and his team secured from Nasheed in The Island President. Over a year, Shenk and his crew filmed Nasheed for 78 days over five continents. “We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into at the start,” says Nasheed, “I thought they just wanted to do a longer interview than normal and would leave after a few days. I didn’t expect them to stay for a year!”
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