March 27th, 2012
The Island President debuted in the UK this week with a sold out premiere as the opening film of the 2012 Human Rights Watch Film Festival. The film opens in cinemas on the 30th March, but on the 3rd April will feature as part of Picturehouse Doc Days monthly event, as it graces over 20 screens across the land in key cities. There will also be a DocHouse London preview on Thursday 29th April - book here. The Hackney Picturehouse screening on the 3rd will be followed by a special Q&A
Jon Shenk’s The Island President tells 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 1200 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.
Here are the cinemas showing the film on Tuesday 3rd April, click on the links to book tickets:
London – Apollo Picadilly Circus
London – Greenwich Picturehouse
London – Hackney Picturehouse + Q&A
London – Stratford Picture House
Aberdeen – The Belmont Picturehouse, Aberdeen
Brighton – Duke Of York's Picturehouse
Bury-St-Edmunds – Abbeygate Picturehouse
Cambridge – Cambridge Arts Picturehouse
Henley-upon-thames – Regal Picturehouse
Liverpool – Picturehouse At Fact
Southampton – Harbour Lights Picture House
Stratford-upon-avon – Stratford-upon-avon Picture House
York – City Screen Picturehouse
Find out more about The Island President on the film's website, or keep updated on Twitter or Facebook
