Montrealer’s climate-change doc a hit
Sundance founder Redford takes interest in Anote’s Ark, which highlights climate change
Anote Tong, the former president of the Central Pacific island of Kiribati, stood in the Salt Lake City airport, staring blankly at the luggage carousel, waiting for a suitcase that would not arrive.
As he wandered off in search of someone who could help, Matthieu Rytz went after him. The Montreal photographer and filmmaker has been following Tong for five years. The resulting documentary, Anote’s Ark, had its world première Friday night at the Sundance Film Festival’s most prestigious venue, the intimate Egyptian Theatre.
On Tuesday, Tong and Rytz will have lunch with Sundance founder Robert Redford, after which Tong has been invited to take part in an environmental-themed panel, hosted by the Hollywood legend. In other words, Sundance is rolling out the red carpet for Anote’s Ark.
“It’s an amazing experience,” Rytz said Saturday. “But the truth is I have no point of reference. It’s my first movie, my first launch ever. People around me are more excited. I am too, but I think I don’t understand the meaning of (having) a première Friday night in front of a full house at the Egyptian. I tell people about it and they’re like, ‘What?!’ ”
Friday’s screening was a hit. Rytz’s film is a visually stunning, nuanced account of Tong’s fight to save his idyllic island from the increasingly devastating effects of climate change.
If things continue the way they’ve been going, Tong believes, Kiribati’s 115,000 inhabitants will have to find a new home within the next century. Rytz’s camera trails him as he travels the world, attempting to rouse world leaders from their inaction.
Tong received a standing ovation as he joined Rytz and members of Montreal’s EyeSteelFilm team Friday night, after being announced as a surprise guest. He commanded the stage in the ensuing Q&A, demonstrating the same mix of charisma, intelligence and eloquence that makes Anote’s Ark so compelling.
“It’s not an academic exercise for me,” Tong said, sitting with Rytz on Saturday. “It’s highly emotional. I’m looking at my grandchildren, asking myself what is to become of them. It’s not something I enjoy doing or think is fun. It’s something that is absolutely necessary.
“It’s getting desperate. Solutions continue to be evasive. People regard (climate change) as something that may or may not happen, but the science is categorical: it’s happening.
“I was just asked (by a journalist) recently, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ I said, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ ”
Tong recently stepped down as president of Kiribati, having served the limit of three terms. But he has not stopped campaigning. He is a distinguished
fellow at American NGO Conservation International’s Center for Oceans, as well as an ambassador for Swedish non-profit Global Challenges Foundation. And he’s the chair of a high-level group to review the governance structure of the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Somehow, amid all his activity and responsibilities, he found six days to come to Sundance in support of Rytz’s film.
“I see this as part of the campaign,” Tong said. “Really, the question for me is, ‘What impact will it have on the campaign?’ I think it’s a very powerful tool.”
He’s not alone. Redford, a longtime environmentalist, asked for his own DVD copy of the film, and appears keen to use his festival to help spread Tong’s message.
“I would like to invite Robert Redford to be part of the program,” Tong said. “We need people to invest their inspiration and passion. I work with a lot of celebrities. Harrison Ford is on the CI (Conservation International) board; I work closely with him. Robert Redford would be a good addition. It’s a human issue. We need very good human beings to do this.”