ANOTE’S ARK: Fighting, Not Drowning
Directly in the center of the world are a group of islands that make the small country, Kiribati. On the island is a community of 100,000 people that live a simple life. From a distance everything is peaceful but as soon as rain falls, the island is invaded by flooding that surrounds their homes. Kiribati has historically been a safe haven from natural disasters, but as climate change becomes an increasing danger, weather patterns have shifted.
Their island homes are unable to withstand the damage from these unstoppable forces of nature and the aftermath brings diseases to the people. While these disasters are tragic for the people of Kiribati, they face losing everything to the inevitable rising sea-level.
Searching for Solutions
Matthew Rytz follows Kiribati’s President, Anote Tong, conference to conference, as he evokes his message that climate change is “not a political issue but an issue of survival”. As he fights to plead with world leaders to think about the people that are directly affected by climate change, Anote’s Ark does the same by intertwining President Tong’s journey with Kiribati native, Sermary.
We meet her and her husband Ato fishing in the ocean for their family. Inside their home, her young children rest in the dim light while she remembers when their home was flooded and almost destroyed by the hurricane. Like many others, she knows that she cannot stay on Kiribati for much longer and seeks refuge and a new life in New Zealand.
Though Anote’s Ark focuses on all the work that President Tong is doing to try to save Kiribati, there is very little focus on the actual policy that he is trying to promote. There are specific moments to reflect the reaction to his work, most notably the signing of the 2016 Paris Agreement, but instead, the chosen selections of President Tong always focus on talking about the people that have to fight to survive this world crisis.
In interviews he’s asked why he is pushing to evoke change in policy even though he knows his island cannot be saved. He responds by saying that he might not be able to save Kiribati, but there are hundreds of islands that are in danger which hopefully won’t face the same fate.
Pacific Islanders contribute the least towards climate change, yet they are the ones who are suffering the most. President Tong refers to the mining and burning of fuels that rapidly increase global warming. He calls the ignorance of these countries an act of war while a group of Pacific Islander activists during an NYC protest cried for climate change justice. These two selections let the world know that they are fighting to save their islands, but they need the rest of the world to help.
Meanwhile, Sermary and Ato welcome a new daughter, born a New Zealand citizen. Though their family has a better life, a safer one, Sermary confesses that she still misses Kiribati. Though finding a new place to live is vital to the people of Kiribati, they are losing more than the place they call home. The fight led by President Tong is constantly broken up with intimate images of the Kiribati people celebrating, dancing, and performing rituals.
Like many other Pacific communities, the islands of Kiribati hold years of culture and heritage as well as a direct connection to their spirit world. As the ocean engulfs their islands, it takes everything that makes the people of Kiribati who they are.
Anote’s Ark: “People Matter the Most”
In a conference, President Tong asks his peers, what is the most important thing in the world? Answering his question, “People. People matter the most.” Anote’s Ark succeeds by its ability to send a meaningful message without a preaching tone. President Tong isn’t just a politician that is just doing his job. When he is home in Kiribati he sits by the fire in a tank top and speaks with his elders and wades in the waters.
His work comes from a pure love for his island and a search to deliver some hope to his people and the future of the Pacific community. “No one is safe from the forces of nature,” reminds President Tong. Though he can feel the immediate danger for Kiribati, he isn’t fighting just for his home but for the future of our planet.
Scientists estimate that Kiribati will disappear sometime within this century.
Anote’s Ark began its festival tour at Sundance, please find screening dates on their website.
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