{{Infobox film | name = The Island President | image = The Island President (film).jpg | alt = | caption = Film poster | director = Jon Shenk | producer = Richard Berge<br>Bonni Cohen | writer = | narrator = | starring = Mohamed Nasheed | music = Radiohead<br>Marco D'Ambrosio | cinematography = Jon Shenk | editing = Pedro Kos | studio = Actual Films | distributor = Samuel Goldwyn Films | released = {{Film date|2011|09|01|TFF|df=y}} | runtime = 101 minutes | country = United States | language = English<br>Maldivian | budget = | gross = }} {{Mohamed Nasheed}} '''''The Island President''''' is a 2011 documentary film about the efforts of then-President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed to tackle rising sea levels resulting from climate change.<ref name="NYT2012">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/movies/the-island-president-and-mohamed-nasheed-of-the-maldives.html |title=Climate Prophet in Hot Water: 'The Island President' and Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives |author=Vikas Bajaj |date=28 March 2012 |work=New York Times |publisher= |accessdate=1 April 2012}}</ref> Produced by Actual Films and directed by Jon Shenk,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.actualfilms.net/islandpres.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903070302/http://www.actualfilms.net/islandpres.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 September 2011|title=The Island President|publisher=Actual Films|accessdate=3 April 2012}}</ref> the film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival. The film received critical acclaim and won the Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award for Documentaries.

The government of the Maldives has predicted it would be inundated as a result of global warming since 1988, when its forecast was "completely cover this Indian Ocean nation of 1196 small islands with in the next 30 years".<ref>{{cite news |date=26 September 1988 |title=Threat to islands |language=en |page=6 |work=The Canberra Times |agency=Agence France-Presse |issue=19348, Vol. 63 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/102074798 |access-date=15 November 2021 |quote=A gradual rise in average sea level is threatening to completely cover this Indian Ocean nation of 1196 small islands with- in the next 30 years, ac- cording to authorities. The Environmental Affairs Director, Mr Hussein Shihab, said an estimated rise of 20 to 30 centimetres in the next 20 to 40 years could be "catastrophic"}}</ref>

== Production and release == The film was funded by groups including the Ford Foundation, the American Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Atlantic Philanthropies and the Sundance Institute.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tcktcktck.org/2011/05/documentary-film-climate-efforts-maldives-president-nasheed-debut-year/ |title=Documentary film on climate efforts of Maldives President Nasheed to debut this year |date=19 May 2011 |publisher=tcktcktck.org |accessdate=3 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008034537/http://tcktcktck.org/2011/05/documentary-film-climate-efforts-maldives-president-nasheed-debut-year/ |archivedate=8 October 2011 }}</ref>

At the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, ''The Island President'' won the Cadillac People's Choice Documentary Award.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://tiff.net/press/pressreleases/2011/toronto-international-film-festival-announces-2011-award-winners |title=Toronto International Film Festival Announces 2011 Award Winners |publisher=tiff. |accessdate=2012-02-08 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114132331/http://tiff.net/press/pressreleases/2011/toronto-international-film-festival-announces-2011-award-winners |archivedate=2012-01-14 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2011-09-18 |access-date=2012-02-08 |title=Lebanese filmmaker wins top TIFF prize |author=June Chua |agency=CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/lebanese-filmmaker-wins-top-tiff-prize-1.1117761}}</ref>

US rights to ''The Island President'' were acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films.<ref>{{cite web |work=Variety |author=Gordon Cox |title=Goldwyn votes for 'President' |url=https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118045726 |date=2011-11-07 |accessdate=2012-02-09}}</ref> The film opened in New York City on March 28, 2012, followed by releases in other US cities, like Los Angeles and San Francisco.<ref>{{cite news |author=Hilary Saunders |title=Radiohead Provide Soundtrack to ''The Island President'' Documentary |date=2012-01-24 |accessdate=2012-02-08 |work=Paste |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2012/01/radiohead-provide-soundtrack-to-the-island-preside.html}}</ref>

==Reception== ''The Island President'' received positive reviews from critics. {{Rotten Tomatoes prose|98||49|An eye-opening and appealing documentary about an earnest politician up against the closed door drama of climate change.}}<ref>{{Rotten Tomatoes}}</ref> {{Metacritic film prose|72|14}}<ref>{{Metacritic film}}</ref>

A. O. Scott of ''The New York Times'' described the film as "buoyant and spirited" despite a grim postscript, praising its "spectacular aerial and underwater footage of the Maldives' beauty" and stating that "It is impossible, while watching it, to root against Mr. Nasheed or to believe that he will fail".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/2012/03/28/movies/the-island-president-jon-shenk-documentary-at-film-forum.html |title=In Paradise, and Closer Than Ever to Disaster |author=A.O. Scott |date=27 March 2012 |work=The New York Times |accessdate=30 March 2012}}</ref> Noel Murray of ''The A.V. Club'' gave the film a "B−", praising "the energy and conclusiveness" of its opening sections, but writing that "the movie stalls a bit" during the sections of international diplomacy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/the-island-president-1798172167 |title=The Island President |author=Noel Murray |date=29 March 2012 |publisher=The A.V. Club |access-date=30 March 2012}}</ref>

After Nasheed stepped down as president in February 2012, Shenk said that he hoped his film could help convince the world that Nasheed was deposed in a coup that was orchestrated by loyalists to the former dictator, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. "That might be the single most important thing that the movie can do. It's now clear that this new government is not democratic, that the people who run the ministries are the same people who were there under the dictator."<ref name="NYT2012" />

== See also ==

* Climate change in the Maldives

==References== {{Reflist|33em}}

==External links== *{{official website|http://theislandpresident.com/}} *{{IMDb title}} *{{Rotten Tomatoes}} *{{Metacritic film}} *{{mojo title|islandpresident}} *[http://www.mrqe.com/movie_reviews/the-island-president-m100096021 ''The Island President''] at the Movie Review Query Engine

{{TIFF People's Choice Documentaries}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Island President, The}} Category:Documentary films about global warming Category:Environment of the Maldives Category:Films set in the Maldives Category:Films shot in the Maldives Category:2011 films Category:2011 documentary films Category:Documentary films about politicians Category:Politics of the Maldives