President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives stands in suit and tie in waist deep water. He puts on scuba diving gear and submerges into the shallow sea off the coast to hold the first underwater cabinet meeting.
This is a scene from the film, “The Island President,” one of several films screening at UW during Earth Week. Students will be able to attend the screening and see what comes of the meeting at 5 p.m. tonight in the Agriculture Auditorium.
Several Recognized Student Organizations came together to select the films, Branden Hayes, ASUW chief of staff, said. Those clubs include The Restoration, Outreach, and Research club (ROaR), the Energy Resource Club (ERC), and the Environment and Natural Resources club (ENR).
For the past few years, ROaR has been putting on the films, said Hayes. Now the ERC and ENR clubs are jumping on board as well.
A grand total of four films are a part of the series. The first film, “Trashed,” was shown Monday evening. The two other films, along with “The Island President,” will be “Dirt!” and “Thin Ice.”
“Trashed” takes a deeper look into our consumptive ways of life and, as the title suggests, sheds light on trash. “Dirt!” takes a different focus, as it looks at human’s reliance on dirt and although it is often overlooked, it is necessary for all life. The film will be shown Thursday at 7 p.m. in Classroom Building 133.
Hayes, who also is the Chair for ECO, was approached by the Sierra Club and the Berry Biodiversity and requested him to show “The Island President” on Wednesday, he said.
“The Island President” will be streamed nationally at over 115 locations nationwide, said Eban Goodstein, Director of the Bard Center for Environmental Policy.
After the film there will be a webinar consisting of the director of the film, Jon Shenk, May Boeve of 350.org, and Thilmeeza Hussain, former UN Representative from the Maldives, said Goodstein.
“With the US political system awash in fossil fuel money, the link holds as true in the United States as it does in the Maldives. Bring your friends to this powerful film, and join us for this important conversation,” said Goodstein.
Other events include the campus clean-up day at noon, Thursday and the Earth Day Expo at 11 a.m., Monday. More information can be found on the ASUW Facebook page.
Those interested in participating in the webinar after “The Island President” can to go youtube.com/c2cfellows.
