The Last Days of Shishmaref (2008)

An Inupiaq community swallowed by the sea

Genre : Documentary

Runtime : 1H 35M

Director : Jan Louter

Synopsis

Shishmaref is a community of about 600 people, located on an island just off the west coast of Alaska. The effects of global warming threaten the very existence of these people- so much that the entire population needs to be relocated off the island within 10 years. They have become the first tangible victims of the worldwide climate changes. The project exists of several components; exhibition, book, film, website, and educational program. In the documentary Jan Louter depicts the impending end of the traditional lifestyle on the island of Shishmaref trough the lives of three Inupiat families. Despite the alarming situation, the film has not become a political manifesto. The Last Days of Shishmaref is a moving film about identity, transience, mortality, and the clash between different eras and cultures.

Actors

Crews

Jan Louter
Jan Louter
Director
Melle van Essen
Melle van Essen
Director of Photography
Riekje Ziengs
Riekje Ziengs
Editor

Similar

An Inconvenient Truth
A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.
The 11th Hour
A look at the state of the global environment including visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet's ecosystems. Featuring ongoing dialogues of experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolse
Before the Flood
A look at how climate change affects our environment and what society can do to prevent the demise of endangered species, ecosystems, and native communities across the planet.
The Day After Tomorrow
After years of increases in the greenhouse effect, havoc is wreaked globally in the form of catastrophic hurricanes, tornadoes, tidal waves, floods and the beginning of a new Ice Age. Paleoclimatologist, Jack Hall tries to warn the world while also shepherding to safety his son, trapped in New York after the city is overwhelmed by the start of the new big freeze.
Ice on Fire
An eye-opening documentary that asks the question: Are we going to let climate change destroy civilization, or will we act on technologies that can reverse it? Featuring never-before-seen solutions on the many ways we can reduce carbon in the atmosphere thus paving the way for temperatures to go down, saving civilization.
Togo
The untold true story set in the winter of 1925 that takes you across the treacherous terrain of the Alaskan tundra for an exhilarating and uplifting adventure that will test the strength, courage and determination of one man, Leonhard Seppala, and his lead sled dog, Togo.
The Great Alaskan Race
In 1925, a group of brave mushers travel 700 miles to save the small children of Nome, Alaska from a deadly epidemic.
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
The story of life on our planet by the man who has seen more of the natural world than any other. In more than 90 years, Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. Addressing the biggest challenges facing life on our planet, the film offers a powerful message of hope for future generations.
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
A decade after An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change into the heart of popular culture comes the riveting and rousing follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution. Vice President Al Gore continues his tireless fight, traveling around the world training an army of climate champions and influencing international climate policy. Cameras follow him behind the scenes—in moments private and public, funny and poignant—as he pursues the empowering notion that while the stakes have never been higher, the perils of climate change can be overcome with human ingenuity and passion.
Bears
Filmmakers Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey chronicle a year in the lives of an Alaskan brown bear named Sky and her cubs, Scout and Amber. Their saga begins as the bears emerge from hibernation at the end of winter. As time passes, the bear family must work together to find food and stay safe from other predators, especially other bears. Although their world is exciting, it is also risky, and the cubs' survival hinges on family togetherness.
Wyvern
The residents of a small Alaskan town find themselves under attack by a flying reptile known in medieval mythology as a Wyvern. It has thawed from its ancient slumber by melting icecaps caused by global warming.
Snow Dogs
When a Miami dentist inherits a team of sled dogs, he's got to learn the trade or lose his pack to a crusty mountain man.
Balto
An outcast half-wolf risks his life to prevent a deadly epidemic from ravaging Nome, Alaska.
The Call of the Wild
Buck is a big-hearted dog whose blissful domestic life is turned upside down when he is suddenly uprooted from his California home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of the Yukon during the Gold Rush of the 1890s. As the newest rookie on a mail delivery dog sled team—and later its leader—Buck experiences the adventure of a lifetime, ultimately finding his true place in the world and becoming his own master.
The Fourth Kind
Since the 1960s, a disproportionate number of the population in and around Nome, Alaska, have gone missing. Despite FBI investigations, the disappearances remain a mystery. Dr. Abigail Tyler, a psychologist, may be on the verge of blowing the unsolved cases wide open when, during the course of treating her patients, she finds evidence of alien abductions.
The Thing
A team of American scientists investigate the empty, destroyed base of their Norwegian counterparts in Antarctica, only to discover a terrifying life force that can take the form of its prey.
Pom Poko
The Raccoons of the Tama Hills are being forced from their homes by the rapid development of houses and shopping malls. As it becomes harder to find food and shelter, they decide to band together and fight back. The Raccoons practice and perfect the ancient art of transformation until they are even able to appear as humans in hilarious circumstances.
The Colony
Forced underground by the next ice age, a struggling outpost of survivors must fight to preserve humanity against a threat even more savage than nature.
The Proposal
When she learns she's in danger of losing her visa status and being deported, overbearing book editor Margaret Tate forces her put-upon assistant, Andrew Paxton, to marry her.
The Grey
Following a grueling five-week shift at an Alaskan oil refinery, workers led by sharpshooter John Ottway, are flying home for a much-needed vacation. But a brutal storm causes their plane to crash in the frozen wilderness, and only eight men, including Ottway, survive. As they trek southward toward civilization and safety, Ottway and his companions must battle mortal injuries, the icy elements, and a pack of hungry wolves.