NX12 Film Festival: We head to the Maldives

It's happening again! The 2nd annual News Xchange Film Festival will take place on Friday, 16 November at 1500 in the conference ballroom. Open to all delegates, the Festival is the ideal way to unwind and relax after a hugely exciting but maybe a wee bit tiring News Xchange!

Under the guidance of the NOS' Gerard van den Broek, Project Leader for Video First, and director of the Input 2012 Documentary and Television Festival (The Netherlands), NX has selected "The Island President" for this year's screening.  We're excited about this film because not only is it a great documentary; it also addresses a critical story we will be discussing at this year's event: climate change.

Says Gerard, "I believe this film is one of the most compelling stories shown at our [Input] festival. It’s even more urgent in the aftermath of February's military coup d'etat in the Maldives and arrest by riot police of Mohamed Nasheed on Monday, October 8th. Although the Maldives are not an Arab country, Nasheed led a democracy movement in a 100 percent Muslim nation, an effort that foreshadowed the Arab Spring three years later.

"Just one of the tragic results of the coup is that World Bank funding for Nasheed's ambitious environmental plan has been shelved indefinitely. Some members of his staff, as shown in the film, are currently under arrest and Nasheed himself is grounded on his home island and not allowed to speak to the press. That’s why the News Xchange community has to take notice of this film.”

Jon Shenk’s The Island President is the story of President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, a man confronting a problem greater than any other world leader has ever faced—the literal survival of his country and everyone in it. After bringing democracy to the Maldives after thirty years of despotic rule, Nasheed is now faced with an even greater challenge: as one of the most low-lying countries in the world, a rise of three feet in sea level would submerge the 1,200 islands of the Maldives enough to make them uninhabitable.

The Island President captures Nasheed’s first year of office, culminating in his trip to the Copenhagen Climate Summit in 2009, where the film provides a rare glimpse of the political horse-trading that goes on at such a top-level global assembly. Nasheed is unusually candid about revealing his strategies—leveraging the Maldives’ underdog position as a tiny country, harnessing the power of media, and overcoming deadlocks through an appeal to unity with other developing nations. When hope fades for a written accord to be signed, Nasheed makes a stirring speech which salvages an agreement. Despite the modest size of his country, Mohamed Nasheed has become one of the leading international voices for urgent action on climate change.

The Los Angeles Times says "Powerful... Compelling and thought provoking. THE ISLAND PRESIDENT is heartening and unsettling by turns."

Immediately following the screening, we will Skype with filmmaker Jon Shenk and get an insider's view into this excellent example of powerful storytelling.

For more information on the film, check out the official website: www.theislandpresident.com

All delegates are invited! Please join us and bring some popcorn...