CHASING CORAL Tells a Beautiful, Horrifying Story
CHASING CORAL // U.S. Documentary Category // Sundance Film Festival 2017
Whelp Sundance 2017 started with a bang. Last night I saw my first film of the festival and it was perfect.
CHASING CORAL tells the story of our disappearing coral reefs, taking us through the journey with the filmmakers as we watch reefs bleach and die before our very eyes. Through breathtaking visuals, director Jeff Orlowski helps us understand the majesty, beauty, and ultimately the importance of our coral reefs.
In the past 30 years we have lost 50% of the coral in the Great Barrier Reef due to fossil fuel consumption. You heard that right: HALF.
As we continue to burn fossil fuels and increase the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, the global temperatures continue to rise. I knew all this going in — I mean, it’s kind of Global Warming 101. What I didn’t know is that the ocean takes the brunt of this heat, saving our earth from becoming a burning wasteland but drastically impacting our oceans.
It’s this ocean warming that is killing our coral. As ocean temperatures rise, the coral reacts by bleaching itself in an attempt to survive. However, this very act of bleaching most often results in coral death. Because coral is the bedrock of 25% of all ocean life, we cannot allow the continued decimation of our reefs.
Now that I’ve completely depressed you, let’s discuss the actual documentary. We start with Richard Vevers, a former ad man who ditched his London agency life to follow his passion to document and better understand the ocean. Vevers quickly noticed that the reefs, home to many of his favorite ocean species, were dying. Determined to do something about this crisis, Vevers put his ad background to good use documenting and marketing the reef crisis to the world at large.
Here’s where director Orlowski comes into play. Five years ago, Orlowski debuted his documentary CHASING ICE that illustrated the devastating impacts global warming has on our glaciers. After Vevers saw CHASING ICE, he reached out to Orlowski and the two teamed up to tell the same story from a different angle.
The rest of the documentary follows Orlowski’s film team Exposure Labs as they develop and install underwater cameras to capture coral bleaching in action. This is also where the audience gets to meet Zackery Rago, a self-proclaimed coral nerd and the real star of the documentary. Zach’s passion about coral bleeds into every moment he’s on screen. It’s simultaneously adorable and inspiring.
In fact, a major win of this whole documentary is just that: passion. Everyone working on this film cares so deeply about our earth and coral specifically that it’s palpable. It’s the kind of passion that drives change, that inspires audiences to choose clean energy options, to call their representatives, to do something to keep our gorgeous reefs alive.
Do yourself a favor and see this film. It is breathtaking and important, a rare combination these days. You can visit the CHASING CORAL website to learn how to get a screening in your city or just how you can help our reefs.
