Metamorphosis

(out of 4) NFB documentary on how humans are adapting to global climate change. Directed by Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper. Screens June 7-8 at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. Opens June 8 at the Carlton. 85 minutes. G

Shock, awe and alarm as Nova Ami and Velcrow Ripper aim a poetic lens at a rapidly changing world.

Metamorphosis charts destruction worldwide caused by climate warming — forest fires in California, dying coral in the Caribbean, floods in Venice — but it also looks for beauty and intelligent adaptation.

Positive signs include an apartment building in Milan that incorporates trees in its structure and an underwater artist who sinks concrete sculptures moulded from real persons to create new places for coral to thrive. The environmental crisis is real, and humans are to mainly blame for it, but many people are trying to save and elevate the planet.

Co-directors Ami and Ripper reflect on how “everything is connected” — air pollution in New York City can affect island life in the South Pacific — and change is inevitable.

Sometimes there’s a little too much poetry. Locations aren’t always made plain as camera drones drift over landscapes and context is intuited.

But the imagery is frequently breathtaking, even when showing a terrifying event like a raging forest fire. See Metamor

phosis on the biggest screen possible.