Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Sat 05 Oct only @ 20.25
Kamar Ahmad Simon / Bangladesh / 2012 / 90 mins
There is still some lingering doubt about climate change, but documentary Are You Listening! should give any remaining skeptics serious pause. It presents such a human portrait of a community dramatically affected by the changing weather that statistics seem suddenly irrelevant, here are hundreds of people struggling daily with the consequences of global warming.
Rakhi lives with her husband Soumen and her son Rahul in a temporary home on an embankment in Bangladesh. In 2009, when Rahul was just four years old, a tidal wave destroyed their home and everything they owned. Since then, the entire community has fought to defend their remaining land from the rising waters and to force the governments of the world to recognise their plight.
It’s a powerful story and the film is full of atmospherically shot images; mist-shrouded palm trees, watery vistas and colourful saris. There is minimal exposition and no narration, rather the camera dives straight into footage of playful children, teasing mothers, marital squabbles and, most powerfully, the anger and frustration of men left impotent in the face of bureaucratic indifference.
The film suffers slightly from its low-key approach: more depth might have made it easier to connect with the subject. However it remains a powerful portrayal of the ground-level effects of high carbon living.
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