Before the Flood

‘Before the Flood’ is a 2016 film about climate change produced by Fisher Stevens, Leonardo DiCaprio, James Packer, Brett Ratner, Trevor Davidoski, and Jennifer Davisson Killoran. The movie took three years to create as it involved traveling to every part of the globe and documenting the devastating impacts of climate change. The film first premiered at the Toronto International Film festival in September 2016 and then officially released in theatres in October the same year before airing on the National Geographic Channel.

The film shows DiCaprio, who is also the narrator of the film visiting different regions of the globe to show the impact of global warming and how it can be solved. He keeps on mentioning the triptych by Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, which, he explains, hung above his head when he was a kid and which he uses as an analogy of the present course of the world toward potential ruin as depicted on its final panel. DiCaprio also spoke to experts who hope to improve the climate issues such as the GigaFactory CEO, professors with socio-economic and political insight, and President Obama himself on the matter. After DiCaprio’s research and travels, he attends an international meeting as a spokesperson to advocate environmental awareness and encourage change to every attending nation

I thought the film was very educational. It changes perspective on our day to day living. I loved the organization of the film, the first half of the film states the climate change problem, and the second half lists the solutions. The movie gave a broad descriptive overview of the environmental status of the world and how climate change has affected many biomes, as well as humans’ current attempt to create significant impacts in sustaining existing ecosystems and repair the deteriorating ecosystems. The documentary is an excellent introduction to the complexity and issue of climate change, and I highly recommend it for everyone.

Chasing Coral Movie Review

Chasing Coral is a 2017 documentary film about a team of divers, scientists, and photographers around the world who document the disappearance of coral reefs. Chasing Coral was produced by Exposure Labs and directed by Jeff Orlowski. It premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was released globally on Netflix as a Netflix Original Documentary in July 2017. Chasing Coral offers a breathtakingly beautiful look at some of the Earth’s most incredible natural wonders while delivering a sobering warning about their uncertain future.

The documentary follows the work of a team led by ocean conservationist Richard Vevers, to discover why coral reefs are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. The film took more than three years to shoot and is the result of 500+ hours of underwater footage, coral bleaching submissions from volunteers in 30 countries, as well as support from more than 500 people in various locations around the world. The documentary starts on a word of caution about the state of the ocean floor. Orlowski and his crew are warned about the deteriorating state of once-prominent reefs, and the introduction is filled with statistics and intelligent talking head clips about theses reefs’ destruction.

Chasing Coral makes you feel vaguely sick, especially when it explains how the removal of Coral could lead to the elimination of marine ecosystems and cause human starvation. The message is secure, and the imagery is memorable throughout the film. By film’s end, you’ll see corals not only as underwater life forms but as dreamy, endangered neighborhoods inhabited by unspeakably beautiful creatures. Generally, the film serves its primary intent that is informing the public and bringing to light the very real challenges the Earth’s oceans are facing. Chasing Coral should be admired as an earnest effort to educate the masses and as a rallying cry for coral reef preservation. I would highly recommend the film to all audiences.

Ice on Fire

‘Ice on Fire’ is a 2019 documentary which reveals the potential extinction-level event caused by arctic methane release, and the newly developed technologies that could reverse global warming by sequestering carbon out of the atmosphere. The film first premiered at Cannes Film