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Published: 22 March, 2012
by DAN CARRIER

Directed by John Shenk
Certificate: PG

Rating: 4 Out Of 5 Stars

In early February of this year, the paradise Indian Ocean islands of the Maldives saw a violent coup overthrow the democratic president, Mohamed Nasheed.

His fall from power should be mourned, as this is not just an attack on the principles of self-determination and democracy, but we have also lost one of the most eloquent and persuasive voices on the world stage in the fight to save our planet from catastrophic climate change.

Clearly, rising sea levels affects the Maldives in a very tangible way, and that is the crux of this documentary.

This is an extraordinary film, with backstage access the camera crew has been given, taking us down the corridors of power.

It also creates a portrait of a man who has a large issue to tackle.

You think our leaders have it tough?

Well, Mr Nasheed has been faced with the country he is responsible for actually disappearing beneath the sea, and the only way to stop it is to drum some sense into the world’s other governments and multinationals.

If there was ever a task worthy of a Greek Tragedy then this is it.

We follow Nasheed as he heads to the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009 and we are given an insider’s look at the deal-making and deal-breaking that goes on at such jaw-jaw beanos.

Nasheed offers candid and clever commentary on what needs to be done – and plays a clever media game with such stunts as holding a cabinet meeting under water (you may remember it – a powerful image).

Above all, this film works because Nasheed is a likeable hero. He brought democracy to these tiny islands after 30 years of dictatorship.

He cleaned up the body politic, rooting out corruption and holding those responsible to account.

Now he has been turfed out by vested interests, and we have lost a sane voice in the maelstrom of climate change denial driven by the filthy cash grabbing of our energy producers and their polluters-in-arms in the face of our unwilling governments.