Thulé, Greenland: the survival of the local population, which rests on hunting walruses and narwhals, is threatened by the melting Arctic icecap, forcing men to expand their territory and go farther with their sled dogs. Archipelago of Tuvalu, Pacific Ocean: the progressive rise in water levels is eating away at the coast, uprooting trees and polluting the fresh water sources that are indispensable to local inhabitants. Although separated by thousands of kilometers, Thulé and Tuvalu share the same destiny: the threat of destruction through global warming.

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Matthias von Gunten creates a link between two locations, which are otherwise completely different, with a compelling idea behind it: shared by mankind, our planet is a unique place, a huge but fragile network in which everything is connected. This is a vision that becomes a nightmare when looked at through the realism of global warming. The echoes of a calving iceberg in Greenland resonate all the way to Polynesia: from two ends of the globe, powerless families are confronted with the inevitable end of their way of life as they see the countryside disappearing day after day, a silent victim of a world that has taken them hostage. The discourse, which has unfortunately become ordinary, takes on a new tone, spoken by the elements themselves – in addition to touching interviews with inhabitants, who seem redundant in comparison. The director’s position as sage observer does have its limits, however, and the exercise cannot break out further than its status as a simple documentary advocating immediate action.