Browse Films

What if you had to leave your home forever? Takuu, a tiny atoll in Papua New Guinea, contains the last Polynesian culture of its kind.  Facing escalating climate-related impacts, including a terrifying flood, community members Teloo, Endar, and Satty, take us on an intimate journey to the core of their lives and dreams. Will they relocate to war-ravaged Bougainville - becoming environmental refugees - or fight to stay? Two visiting scientists investigate on the island, leading audience and community to a greater understanding of climate change.

There Once Was an Island is an excellent case study for discussions about displaced communities, democracy, adaptation, conservation, and human rights. Four years in the making and winner of 15 international awards, this PBS documentary inspires audiences young and old to consider the immediacy of climate change and its cultural, political and environmental impacts, now and into the future.

It can be used in courses related to:

Urban and Environmental Studies, Conservation, Geography, Oceanography, Sociology, Political Science, Anthropology, Ethnography, Immigration & Border Studies, Family Studies, Multicultural & Religious Studies, Documentary Filmmaking.

 

 

This emotionally charged documentary had audiences in tears… It will completely change your outlook on life.
Raindance Film Festival

"There Once Was an Island” powerfully depicts the islanders’ struggle to come to grips with their changing world.  I anticipate using this film for introductory classes in cultural anthropology, Pacific ethnography, and social and environmental change.
Richard Feinberg, Professor of Anthropology, Kent State University

It is one thing to sit in a classroom and be taught about climate change, but it's another thing to be completely enraptured by the true reality of climate change taking its course. This movie explores many different teaching possibilities and can be used across numerous contexts…
Kapisha Patel, Social Sciences High School Teacher, One Tree Hill College, New Zealand

The sinking of an island can signify the end of the world to a village elder, a logistical problem to an engineer, or merely an afterthought to a government official. The film eloquently tries to reconcile these opposing perspectives by gradually convincing us of the weight of small things.
Sean Gilbert, Film Reviewer, London

AWARDS & SCREENINGS:

• Winner, Grand Jury Prize, FIFO, Tahiti

• Winner, Runner Up, Best Political Film, Action on Film Festival, USA

• Winner, Grand Jury Prize, Cinema Planeta, Mexico

• Winner, Honorable Mention, Cape Winelands Film Festival, South Africa

• Winner, Best Documentary Jameson Cinefest Miskolc International Film Festival, Hungary

• Winner, Honorable Mention, Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival, USA

• Winner, Best Editing Award, New Zealand Qantas Film and Television Awards

• Winner, Programmer's Choice Natural Facts Award, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, USA

• Winner, Best Development Message, Millennium International Documentary Film Festival, Belgium

• Nominee Best Documentary, Documentary/Facutal, 2010 New Zealand Qantas, Film and Television Awards, New Zealand

• Winner, Best International Documentary Award, Cinemambiente Environmental Film Festival, Italy

• Winner, Best Documentary Raindance Film Festival, UK

• Nominee, Pare Lorenz Award, IDA (International Documentary Association), USA

• Official Selection, IDFA, Green Screen Competition, Netherlands

• Official Selection, Hawaii International Film Festival, USA

• Official Selection, Hot Springs Documnetary Film Festival, USA

• Official Selection, Margaret Mead Documentary Film Festival, USA

• Official Selection, Cleveland International Film Festival, USA

• Official Selection, UNAFF, USA

• Official Selection Atlanta Film Festival 365, USA

• For a full list of film festivals please visit our website:

  www.thereoncewasanisland.com

Resource Web Sites

Resources to Download

Download Here