Undercurrents of a Changing Climate (2017)

A film about environmental change and the 12th Festival of Pacific Arts: voices from Guam, Tokelau and Kiribati.

 

Every four years, participants from 27 island nations gather to celebrate their culture and to perform their identity at the Festival of Pacific Arts. In 2016, FestPAC took place in Guam, the largest of the Mariana Islands, and as many say one of the USA's last colonies.

 

One of the festivals core themes in 2016 was: 'Our resources from land and sea that have sustained Pacific islanders for thousands of years'. We meet festival delegates from three island nations (Tokelau, Guam and Kiribati) to discuss how they perceive today's environmental challenges: We are looking for the undercurrents of a changing climate.

 

How does climate change discourse affect performances of traditional and contemporary dance and other art forms?

 

Our interview partners are: Asi Fangalua Halaleva-Pasilio (one of the leading figures of the delegation from Nukunonu, Tokelau), Kaure Babo (a newly elected member of parliament from Kiribati), Joe Viloria (a cultural practitioner and fisherman from Guam who is working relentlessly to restore a perceived ancient Chamorro culture), and Adrienne L. Kaeppler (curator of Oceanic Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.)

 

A documentary by Dennis Dellschow and Eric Petzoldt.

Co-funded by the AKB foundation.

 

Premiere: Munich, Germany: ESfO 2017, 2 July 2017

International Premiere: Hagatna, Guam: GUAM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, 1 October 2017

 

Upcoming Screenings: 

Apia, Samoa: November 2017

Stuttgart, Germany: Linden Museum, March 2018

British Society for Ethnomusicology, April 2021

University of Cambridge, June 2021

Solarwind - the Story of Two Islands

Feature Documentary - produced in Spain and the Cook Islands - in production

 

The Cook Islands are among the first nations worldwide that aim at securing an energy supply with 100% renewable energy, mostly from Solar power. 17,500km away from the Cook Islands lies El Hierro: The smallest island of the Canary group works relentlessly to secure her energy needs through wind energy. Both island societies are linked by their efforts for sustaining the natural living conditions of our planet.

 

Our feature-long cinematic documentary SOLARWIND aims to show how shared commitment and sustainable technology can change lives for the better. The film will also include footage from 1999, when, another German film team (led by Rolf Husmann and Markus Hüsgen) came to the Cook Islands: Their still unpublished material shows the installation of the first solar panels on Penrhyn and Manihiki.