THE ISLAND PRESIDENT

WRITTEN, PHOTOGRAPHED & DIRECTED BY JON SHENK

Mohamed Nasheed is the handsome, young, crusading president of the Maldives, a paradise composed of 1200 tiny islands, set jewel-like in the Indian Ocean. In a David v. Goliath scenario, he is battling the climate change that threatens to destroy his nation. His candid, intelligent, often humorous speeches and asides make for a totally refreshing experience in political activism, as he builds a democracy that replaces decades of oppression and corruption that previously held sway. But as he pointedly notes: “It won’t be any good to have a democracy if we don’t have a country.” The Indian Ocean is rising, and if carbon emissions continue at their present levels or if they climb, the Maldives will definitely disappear. Filmmaker Jon Shenk captures this real-life drama and the charismatic man who is leading the charge to save his 3000-year-old nation — and maybe the rest of us too.

US • 2011 • 101 MINS. • IN ENGLISH & DHIVEHI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • SAMUEL GOLDWYN FILMS

BREAKING NEWS!

Watch a DEMOCRACY NOW! segment below on the breaking news of Mohamed Nasheed’s resignation due to a probable Maldivian coup orchestrated by affiliates of the former dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Read Nasheed’s op-ed from The New York Times here and watch THE ISLAND PRESIDENT filmmaker Jon Shenk’s terrific op-doc here