Time & Tide 2005

Filmmakers Julie Bayer and Josh Salzman offer a thought-provoking visit to the land and people of the tiny Pacific nation of Tuvalu, threatened with possible extinction by the twin oppressions of global warming and economic globalisation. The film follows a group of Tuvaluan New Zealanders returning to their homeland, many for the first time in decades, and others, the children of immigrants, for the first time ever. The voyage to Funafuti is full of nostalgia, but they soon discover that Tuvalu has changed a lot since they left it behind. A multi-million dollar deal with an internet company has brought new development, altering the landscape and bringing foreigners to the island. But a greater threat looms from the steadily rising sea level, driven by climate change resulting from global warming, swallowing up preciously limited land. In An Inconvenient Truth Al Gore talks about the Pacific Islanders fleeing their flooded atolls for New Zealand. In Time & Tide we meet them.