Releases
'The Island President,' a Stirring Documentary About a President and a Country Under Siege, Plays March 20 at SF Film Society Cinema
SFFS Global Threats Film Series, Funded by Skoll Global Threats Fund, Launches with Inspiring Film and Provocative Dialogue About Climate Change
2/23/2012
The Island President (USA, 2011), Jon Shenk’s beautifully shot documentary about Mohamed Nasheed, former president—he was forced to resign on February 7, 2012—of the Maldives, inaugurates the San Francisco Film Society’s Global Threats Film Series, 7:00 pm, March 20 at SF Film Society Cinema (1746 Post Street). Following the screening there will be an in-depth Q&A with the filmmaker and special guest Terry Tamminen, ranked #1 on the Guardian’s list of “Top 50 People Who Can Save the Planet,” moderated by journalist Mark Hertsgaard. Hertsgaard has also been commissioned to author an essay touching on the issues raised by the film, which will be published on sffs.org on March 13.
This spectacular documentary portrays Mohamed Nasheed, president of the Maldives, and his fervent campaign to save his country—the lowest-lying in the world—from disappearing. After becoming the Maldives’ first freely elected leader in 30 years, Nasheed must tackle his nation’s most formidable adversary, global warming. With unprecedented access, the film follows him as he travels to Copenhagen for the 2009 Climate Summit where he urges leaders around the globe to curb their emissions and help save his country from sinking into the ocean. Photographed by Jon Shenk. 101 min. Distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Watch the trailer here.
Director/cinematographer Jon Shenk was the director of photography for the Academy Award-winning Smile Pinki (2009). He directed and photographed the Independent Spirit Award winner Lost Boys of Sudan (2003, SFIFF 2003). He has produced and photographed dozens of documentaries for PBS, BBC, A&E, Bravo, CBS, NBC and National Geographic Television. He has been nominated twice for Emmys for his cinematography. Shenk earned his Master’s degree in documentary filmmaking from Stanford University.
Mark Hertsgaard is the author of six books that have been translated into sixteen languages, including HOT: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth and Earth Odyssey: Around the World In Search of Our Environmental Future. As an independent journalist, he has reported from twenty-five countries for leading outlets worldwide, including the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Time, the Nation, BBC, Le Monde Diplomatique and L’espresso.
Terry Tamminen is the founder of 7th Generation Advisors, a nonprofit designed to create a bottom-up approach to clean energy and sustainability policies. Former secretary for the California Environmental Protection Agency, Tamminen was involved in many groundbreaking sustainability policies, including California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. He is an accomplished author of publications on diverse topics including Lives Per Gallon: the True Cost of Our Oil Addiction.
Tickets $9 for SFFS members, $11 general, $10 senior/student/disabled. Box office opens February 24 online at sffs.org and in person at SF Film Society Cinema.
To request an interview contact hhart@sffs.org.
To request screeners contact bproctor@sffs.org.
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/pressdownloads.
The Film Society has received a significant award from the Skoll Global Threats Fund to curate and present four programs in 2012 that will engage Bay Area audiences in increased awareness, provocative dialogue and productive action around topics of urgent global threats: climate change, water scarcity, pandemics, nuclear proliferation and Middle East conflict. Each program in the series will feature a public screening, a school screening, guest speakers, a published essay, educational materials and continuing audience engagement through the Film Society’s Causes & Impacts program.
The SFFS Global Threats Film Series is made possible with support from the Skoll Global Threats Fund.
At SF Film Society Cinema, the stylish state-of-the art theater located in the New People building at 1746 Post Street (Webster/Buchanan) in Japantown, the San Francisco Film Society offers its acclaimed exhibition, education and filmmaker services programs and events on a daily year-round basis. For complete up-to-date information on all SFFS Cinema programming, including buying tickets, visit sffs.org/cinema.
Upcoming San Francisco Film Society programs
Through February 23: Margaret Anna Paquin stars in Kenneth Lonergan’s drama about a young woman grappling with her feelings of guilt over her role in a tragic accident.
Opening February 24: Roadie Michael Cuesta’s compellingly honest look at youthful rock ‘n’ roll dreams gone awry.
March 8: The Long Day Closes with director Terence Davies in Person New 35mm print of Davies’s expressionistic autobiographical scrapbook of working-class family life in Northern England in the mid-1950s.
Opening March 16: Kill List In Ben Wheatley’s artfully made and unsettling second feature paranoia unravels two former army buddies–turned¬¬–contract killers.
Opening March 23: Sound of Noise A delightful comic cocktail mixing a modern urban symphony, a police procedural and a love story.
Opening March 30: House of Pleasures Ambitious and elegantly made, Bertrand Bonello’s film depicts life in a Paris brothel at the turn of the 20th century.
Opening April 6: This Is Not a Film In this profound reflection on the nature of making art, banned Iranian director Jafar Panahi (along with his collaborator Mojtaba Mirtahmasb) discusses his plans for a film he knows he cannot make.
Opening April 13: The Turin Horse This apocalyptic story of the domestic life of a horse-cart driver and his daughter is purportedly Béla Tarr’s last film.
San Francisco Film Society
Building on a legacy of more than 50 years of bringing the best in world cinema to the Bay Area, the San Francisco Film Society is a national leader in exhibition, education and filmmaker services.
The Film Society presents 365 days of exhibition each year, reaching a total audience of 130,000 people. Its acclaimed education program introduces international, independent and documentary cinema and media literacy to more than 15,000 teachers and students and presents 120 classes and workshops annually. Through the filmmaker services program essential creative and business services, and funding totaling millions of dollars, are provided to deserving filmmakers of all levels.
The Film Society seeks to elevate all aspects of film culture, offering a wide range of activities that engage emotions, inspire action, change perceptions and advance knowledge. A 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, it is largely donor and member supported. Patronage and membership provides discounted prices, access to grants and residencies, private events and a wealth of other benefits.
For more information visit sffs.org.
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This spectacular documentary portrays Mohamed Nasheed, president of the Maldives, and his fervent campaign to save his country—the lowest-lying in the world—from disappearing. After becoming the Maldives’ first freely elected leader in 30 years, Nasheed must tackle his nation’s most formidable adversary, global warming. With unprecedented access, the film follows him as he travels to Copenhagen for the 2009 Climate Summit where he urges leaders around the globe to curb their emissions and help save his country from sinking into the ocean. Photographed by Jon Shenk. 101 min. Distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Watch the trailer here.
Director/cinematographer Jon Shenk was the director of photography for the Academy Award-winning Smile Pinki (2009). He directed and photographed the Independent Spirit Award winner Lost Boys of Sudan (2003, SFIFF 2003). He has produced and photographed dozens of documentaries for PBS, BBC, A&E, Bravo, CBS, NBC and National Geographic Television. He has been nominated twice for Emmys for his cinematography. Shenk earned his Master’s degree in documentary filmmaking from Stanford University.
Mark Hertsgaard is the author of six books that have been translated into sixteen languages, including HOT: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth and Earth Odyssey: Around the World In Search of Our Environmental Future. As an independent journalist, he has reported from twenty-five countries for leading outlets worldwide, including the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Time, the Nation, BBC, Le Monde Diplomatique and L’espresso.
Terry Tamminen is the founder of 7th Generation Advisors, a nonprofit designed to create a bottom-up approach to clean energy and sustainability policies. Former secretary for the California Environmental Protection Agency, Tamminen was involved in many groundbreaking sustainability policies, including California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. He is an accomplished author of publications on diverse topics including Lives Per Gallon: the True Cost of Our Oil Addiction.
Tickets $9 for SFFS members, $11 general, $10 senior/student/disabled. Box office opens February 24 online at sffs.org and in person at SF Film Society Cinema.
To request an interview contact hhart@sffs.org.
To request screeners contact bproctor@sffs.org.
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/pressdownloads.
The Film Society has received a significant award from the Skoll Global Threats Fund to curate and present four programs in 2012 that will engage Bay Area audiences in increased awareness, provocative dialogue and productive action around topics of urgent global threats: climate change, water scarcity, pandemics, nuclear proliferation and Middle East conflict. Each program in the series will feature a public screening, a school screening, guest speakers, a published essay, educational materials and continuing audience engagement through the Film Society’s Causes & Impacts program.
The SFFS Global Threats Film Series is made possible with support from the Skoll Global Threats Fund.
At SF Film Society Cinema, the stylish state-of-the art theater located in the New People building at 1746 Post Street (Webster/Buchanan) in Japantown, the San Francisco Film Society offers its acclaimed exhibition, education and filmmaker services programs and events on a daily year-round basis. For complete up-to-date information on all SFFS Cinema programming, including buying tickets, visit sffs.org/cinema.
Upcoming San Francisco Film Society programs
Through February 23: Margaret Anna Paquin stars in Kenneth Lonergan’s drama about a young woman grappling with her feelings of guilt over her role in a tragic accident.
Opening February 24: Roadie Michael Cuesta’s compellingly honest look at youthful rock ‘n’ roll dreams gone awry.
March 8: The Long Day Closes with director Terence Davies in Person New 35mm print of Davies’s expressionistic autobiographical scrapbook of working-class family life in Northern England in the mid-1950s.
Opening March 16: Kill List In Ben Wheatley’s artfully made and unsettling second feature paranoia unravels two former army buddies–turned¬¬–contract killers.
Opening March 23: Sound of Noise A delightful comic cocktail mixing a modern urban symphony, a police procedural and a love story.
Opening March 30: House of Pleasures Ambitious and elegantly made, Bertrand Bonello’s film depicts life in a Paris brothel at the turn of the 20th century.
Opening April 6: This Is Not a Film In this profound reflection on the nature of making art, banned Iranian director Jafar Panahi (along with his collaborator Mojtaba Mirtahmasb) discusses his plans for a film he knows he cannot make.
Opening April 13: The Turin Horse This apocalyptic story of the domestic life of a horse-cart driver and his daughter is purportedly Béla Tarr’s last film.
San Francisco Film Society
Building on a legacy of more than 50 years of bringing the best in world cinema to the Bay Area, the San Francisco Film Society is a national leader in exhibition, education and filmmaker services.
The Film Society presents 365 days of exhibition each year, reaching a total audience of 130,000 people. Its acclaimed education program introduces international, independent and documentary cinema and media literacy to more than 15,000 teachers and students and presents 120 classes and workshops annually. Through the filmmaker services program essential creative and business services, and funding totaling millions of dollars, are provided to deserving filmmakers of all levels.
The Film Society seeks to elevate all aspects of film culture, offering a wide range of activities that engage emotions, inspire action, change perceptions and advance knowledge. A 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, it is largely donor and member supported. Patronage and membership provides discounted prices, access to grants and residencies, private events and a wealth of other benefits.
For more information visit sffs.org.
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