Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis, directed by the husband-and-wife team of Velcrow Ripper (ScaredSacred) and Nova Ami, starts off beautiful but depressing, with sculptures of human forms that suggest a future Ozymandias, as someone suggests that nature will still be around in the future; it’s just the parts we need to survive that won’t work any more. But eventually the film turns to people who are addressing the needs of the planet, whether by turning abandoned Californian swimming pools into self-sustaining micro-farms, erecting “vertical forest buildings” in Milan, or constructing Earth Houses out of materials that would otherwise go into landfills. It’s enough to swing to mood over to something like hope.

Blue, as the title suggests, focuses on the 71 per cent of our planet that is watery. Australian director Karina Holden documents the overfishing of sharks and even tuna — someone notes that eating tuna is “comparable to dining on snow leopard or polar bear.” She also looks at the scourge of abandoned “ghost nets” that drift in the oceans and kill hapless creatures, and the danger to seabirds posed by all the plastic that winds up in the ocean, gradually breaking down into smaller (bitesized) pieces but never vanishing. In addition to showing volunteers cleaning the remote beaches of Hawaii, the film ends with a website and a list of recommendations to help save the seas.

Metamorphosis (•••½) opens June 1 in Montreal and Quebec City; June 7 in Toronto; June 20 in Calgary; June 22 in Edmonton; June 24 in Victoria; and June 26 in Vancouver.

Blue ( ★★½) screens across Canada for one night only, June 7 (the day before World Oceans Day). For tickets contact ca.demand.film/ blue/