SCRIPT: SURVIVING PARADISE

A documentary by Michael Dilissen & Stef Ackx

 

 

 

COMMENTARY DO NOT SUBTITLE

Speech to subtitle

Captions

 

 

00:00:03:00     00:00:05:20

Mauri ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Kiribati.

 

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The local time is 12 O'clock and the outside temperature is 31°C.

 

00:00:15:00

This is Kiribati.

 

00:00:23:00

We are Michael and Stef. And three days ago we left Belgium to start our journey to Kiribati. As one of the most remote countries in the world, it takes us 72 hours, 3 layovers and 8 airline meals to finally arrive here.

 

00:00:28 – GRAPHIC WORLD MAP

 

00:00:59:00

Needless to say, Kiribati is one of the least visited countries in the world. Welcoming no more than 6000 tourists a year, you’ll find fewer visitors here than in North Korea. And it doesn’t take a long time to figure out why.

 

00:01:13:00     00:01:17:20

Finally in kiribati.

We have been three days on the road and then we arrive here:

 

00:01:18:00     00:01:21:20

The game is called: look for your own luggage.

Currently only losers, no winner so far.

 

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What is this? What is this?

 

 

00:01:29:00

But we have to admit, the long trip pays off. The country looks like a fairytale paradise.

 

Kiribati consists of 33 islands scattered in the Pacific Ocean. It has 115 000 inhabitants. The country is well-known for two reasons: every year they’re the first ones to celebrate New Year, but they are also the first country to disappear due to climate change. And that’s why we are here.

 

00:01:57 - TEXTED GRAPHIC

SURVIVING PARADISE

 

00:02:06:00     00:02:13:10
Mauri! mijn name is Rikimas.

I have two documentarymakers from Belgium with me.

 

00:02:14:00     00:02:18:12

I would like to welcome you to Radio Kiribati.

- Mauri!

 

00:02:19:00

Two Belgians making a documentary about their country is such a big deal that we are invited to talk about the issue at their most popular radio station. Too bad the room isn’t prepared for 2 guests and neither are the cameras.

 

00:02:32:00     00:02:38:20

It's so absurd. There is actually a country gonna dissapear.

While we will be alive. And that is really strange.

 

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So it's our last chance to do something about it

and to come here and to see it, and to experience it.

 

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And now we still can go and visit Kiribati

and try to explain the story in Europe.

 

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Global warming is so far away for us, it's maybe

going to have an impact in our lives in fifty years.

 

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But you feel the impact everyday.

 

00:03:06:00

And even though we just arrived, the impact immediately shows. No matter where we look, the water is everywhere. Even in people’s houses. After our interview on the radio we are invited to visit two listeners.

 

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It happened during daytime when it's high tide.

And there was a big wave coming in.

 

00:03:34

Tearei Tekita

 

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And we had a seawall. You can see a part of that seawall.

 

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The first thing that happened is that the wave broke the seawall.

And than the water came inside the land.

 

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And it takes away everything. Even our houses.

 

00:04:01:00     00:04:06:00

My first house is in the water now.

My second house is also in the water now.

 

00:04:02

Boobu Torobimo

 

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And my last house was just here at the beach.

 

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- And where do you live now?

 

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Now I moved further. Inside the land.

Just to move away from the oceanside.

 

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I'm afraid. What about our future? Even our children?

What is the future of our children or grandchildren?

 

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So sad.

 

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Every year the land loses about 1.5 meter.

Every year.

 

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The most narrow point of the island is only 4 meters wide. At some places, the road has even washed away.

 

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Right now the engine has to warm up.

 

 

00:05:22:00

To reach the house of former president Anote Tong, we are forced to take a boat.

 

00:05:37

United Nations 2013

 

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I have the honour to welcome to the United Nation:

Anonte Tong. President of the Republic of Kiribati.

 

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For more than 12 years Anote Tong was president of Kiribati. During his three terms in office he became world-famous for his efforts to raise global awareness on climate change.

 

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And we need action. Now.

 

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We don't have hurricanes or cyclones.

But last year we did. And that is a change.

 

00:05:50

Anote Tong

Ex-President Kiribati

 

00:05:57:00     00:06:01:00

If we keep having storms like that

than there will be nothing left of this island.

 

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You don't have to be very smart to understand

the damage that is likely to come.

 

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I can see what we have here. And when the high tide is in,

there is very little land above the hightide.

 

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And another meter, and a lot of the land

is going be under water.

 

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I think already we are seeing communities

whose livelyhood is being threatened.

 

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I believe that in five to ten years

they will have to leave those islands.

 

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And it's already happening. 

There are people that should be leaving those spots,

 

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rather than hoping that what is inevitable will not happen.

 

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It's simple interpretation of the science.

The science says that even if we achieve zero emmissions,

 

00:06:48:22     00:06:55:00

We will still be under water.

So it's to late, we can't reverse this.

 

00:06:59:10

Kiribati’s highest point is 3 meters above sea level. According to scientists, the country will become uninhabitable within the next 20 years. For us, being surrounded by only water feels a little bit claustrophobic. But we see none of that fear with the I-Kiribati.

 

00:07:34:00

They don’t seem to be overly concerned. Surprisingly, nobody is making plans to leave their home nation.

 

00:07:44:00

Instead of being desperate about their future, the I-Kiribati seem extremely hopeful. People are even trying to reinforce the shoreline by cultivating mangrove plants.

 

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That place right there,

that's where we started our mangrove planting.

 

00:08:00
George Taoaba

Ecological inspector

 

00:08:01:00     00:08:08:00
We planted it all the way along the coastline

as an act to prevent coastal erosion.

 

00:08:08:10

The project thrives on volunteers willing to fight for their land.

 

00:08:13:00     00:08:18:10

We learn from the scientists that Kiribati

will be under water.

 

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But we don't want to think about that yet.

 

00:08:20

Claire (Anterea) & Pelenise (Alofa)
Volunteers

 

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That's why we keep on working together with

our communities: how can we adept to these changes.

 

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And that's why we work together: we plant mangroves,

we do a lot of campaigns, we do a lot of cleaning up.

 

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We just want to help our country.

 

00:08:48:00     00:08:54:10

If i put it in a Kiribati context it's a very important plant.

First of all planting trees is good for the environment.

 

00:08:54:14     00:09:02:20

And this one acts like a natural protection from everything

that is coming our way like storms, runoffs, everything.

 

00:09:04:00    00:09:11:00

It also acts like a nursery home for fishes.

I think it's the best seaplant I can think of.

 

00:09:11:20     00:09:14:20    

- One last question: how much time

does it take before it gets that big?

 

00:09:15:00    00:09:20:00

So that side, where they are tall.

It has been there for a while now.

 

00:09:20:05     00:09:23:00

It has been there for ten years now.

 

00:09:23:10

So the first plants are now 10 years old. But mangrove plants only become useful after 15 years. Seems long knowing the country will become uninhabitable within 20 years time.

 

00:09:33:00     00:09:38:15

Well, that's what the scientists says.

We are not scientists, maybe we are naturalists.

 

00:09:39:00    00:09:45:20

You know, we started with the greenhousegasses.

We don't even have a word for greenhousegasses in our language.

 

00:09:46:00     00:09:52:15

And than they talk about global warming.

Oh, what is that? And now it's climate change.

 

00:09:53:00     00:09:59:00

I believe that climate change is there.

But it's not as frightened as we think,

 

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and that we have to find a way to run away

or something like that.

 

00:10:15:18

So while we thought everybody was preparing for a mass migration, someone is even going the opposite direction.

 

00:10:23:00     00:10:25:20

I was always curious about Kiribati.

 

00:10:25

Lulu de Boer

journalist

 

00:10:25:22     00:10:30:15

Because the way grandmothers talk about their place growing up,

it sounded like a paradise.

 

00:10:31:00

Lulu is an American journalist with I-Kiribati ancestors. One year ago she arrived in Kiribati.

 

00:10:38:00     00:10:42:20

And so for me I was like: oh man,

i have to go back there before it's all gone.

 

00:10:43:00     00:10:47:20

Because I want my kids to have that sense

of culture where I grew up with.

 

00:10:48:00    00:10:52:20

and the only way that I knew

how to pass that on was to come back here

 

00:10:52:22     00:10:55:10

and absorb as much as possible before it was all gone.

 

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so that I could pass it on to the next generation.

 

00:10:59:00

Clearly not everyone in Kiribati is aware of how critical the situation really is. Something Lulu has also been noticing.

 

00:11:06:00    00:11:10:15

People here have a big gap of information.

They don't know much about climate change.

 

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If you try to explain to someone here who has lived here

his entire life that giant icebergs are melting.

 

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It's not something that they can really picture

because it's an iceberg. There are no icebergs here.

 

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and it's hard to imagine the magnitude of an iceberg

when you are on a island that is so small.

 

00:11:45:18

That gap of information seems to be understandable for the older generations. But the youngsters get their information at school, where they learn about climate change. We are curious to see what the students think about the situation in their country.

 

00:12:01 :00   00:12:04:00

Good morning everyone

- Good morning miss.

 

00:12:04:00     00:12:07:00

Today we are going to talk about

who believes in climate change

 

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and who does not believe in climate change.

 

00:12:10:00     00:12:14:00

We have talked about the causes

and the effects.

 

00:12:14:00     00:12:18:00

The question now is,

who believes in climate change?

 

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If you believe in climate change,

put your hands up

 

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Let’s show it by hands.

Who believes in climate change?

 

00:12:29:00     00:12:31:00

Come on hands up!

High high high!

 

00:12:31:00     00:12:33:00

Hands up hands up!

 

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There are a few who believe in climate change.

 

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Okay, tell us why you don’t believe it.

 

00:12:40:00     00:12:45:00

Tell us your reasons why you believe it or not.

 

00:12:53:00    00:12:56:00 IN GILBERTESE

God has created things for a reason.

 

00:12:57:00    00:13:02:00 IN GILBERTESE

They say that the rising sea

levels happen

 

00:13:02:00    00:13:05:00 IN GILBERTESE

when the icebergs melt

in the north and south pole.

 

00:13:06:00    00:13:09:00 IN GILBERTESE

But in the bible they say that God created

the sun to evaporate that.

 

00:13:09:00    00:13:11:00 IN GILBERTESE

So I don’t believe the sea is really rising.

 

00:13:13:00    00:13:15:00 IN GILBERTESE

There’s an old saying in the bible by Noah

 

00:13:15:00    00:13:18:00 IN GILBERTESE

about the flooding of the sea.

 

00:13:18:00    00:13:23:00 IN GILBERTESE

According to that, it would never happen again.

 

00:13:24:00    00:13:27:00 IN GILBERTESE

So I believe in that.

 

00:13:28:15

We have already heard a lot of confusion about climate change. But the fact that even the younger generations - those who will be forced to move away from their country - refuse to believe in the consequences. That is something we had never expected. They rather put their faith in the Bible.

 

00:13:43:13     00:13:46:00

- Do you believe in climate change?

 

00:13:47:00     00:13:50:00

I have seen climate change,

the consequences of climate change

 

00:13:47

Tabea Bakeua

student

 

00:13:52:00     00:13:54:00

But I don’t believe it as

a religious person.

 

00:13:54:00     00:13:56:00

There’s a thing in the bible,

 

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Where they say that,

 

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God sends this person to tell

all the people

 

00:14:03:00     00:14:06:00

that there will be no more floods.

 

00:14:06:00     00:14:08:00

So I am still believing in that

 

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And the reason why I am still believing

in that, is because I’m afraid.

 

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And I don’t know how to get all my 50 or 60

family members away from here.

 

00:14:23:00     00:14:26:00

That’s why I’m afraid,

But I’m putting it behind me.

 

00:14:26:00     00:14:29:00

Because I just don’t know what to do.

 

00:14:34:00     00:14:38:00

People here are so religious,

because it’s a subsistence lifestyle

 

00:14:39:00     00:14:45:00

They are very religious and very dependent

on things that are outside of your control

 

00:14:55:00

They’re definitely religious. With 99.9 percent of the population believing in God, Kiribati is one of the most religious countries in the world. There are three main religions on the island. The most popular one is catholicism, then the presbyterian church, and last but not least the mormons.

 

00:15:19:00     00:15:21:00

- Do you think climate change is real?

 

00:15:22:00     00:15:28:00

We’ve been told in the church that

we live in the last days.

 

00:15:22:05

Lotua B Tune

Mormon Church

 

00:15:28:00     00:15:32:00

The last days is the time before

the second coming of Jesus Christ.

 

00:15:32:00     00:15:36:00

And we were told very clearly in the scriptures

 

00:15:36:00     00:15:41:00

that prior to that there will be a lot of things

that we will see.

 

00:15:41:00     00:15:44:00

And part of that will be the change in climate

 

00:15:45:00     00:15:52:00

But to predict that the country

will be under water in the next 50 years

 

00:15:47:00

Soama Tafia

Presbyterian Church

 

00:15:56:00     00:15:58:00

I don’t agree with that.

 

00:15:59:00     00:16:02:00

Because I think that only God

can tell the future.

 

00:16:02:00     00:16:03:20

Can you say when,

what hour or what date

 

00:16:02:10

Paul Mea

Bishop Catholic Church

 

00:16:04:00     00:16:07:00

That we are going to sink?

 

00:16:08:00     00:16:09:00

Nobody knows.

 

00:16:10:00     00:16:13:00

The life and the future is not

with the scientists.

 

00:16:13:00     00:16:14:00

It is with God.

 

00:16:16:00     00:16:20:00

That’s why I’m encouraging the government

not to accept it, but to reject it.

 

00:16:20:00     00:16:25:00

Because the scientists don’t really know

what is going to happen.

 

00:16:25:00     00:16:28:00

I really believe that God

is watching over us

 

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We just have to have faith

 

00:16:31:20     00:16:35:10

and that’s why we need to strengthen

our families and individuals,

 

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to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

00:16:38:18

So the lives of the I-Kiribati are in the hands of God. Officially, the religious leaders believe in climate change, but in the end God will save them all. And the longer we talk to them, the more absurd their arguments get.

 

00:16:54:15     00:17:01:00

People who are destroying creation

are not religious.

 

00:17:02:00     00:17:03:00

They are scientists.

 

00:17:03:00     00:17:05:00

And I don’t believe they are religious.

 

00:17:06:00     00:17:09:00

Because if they were religious,

they would respect creation.

 

00:17:10:00     00:17:14:00

- Do you mean that we have climate change,

because people don’t believe in God anymore?

 

00:17:15:00     00:17:16:00

Yes.

 

00:17:16:00     00:17:18:00

I believe in that.

 

00:17:18:00     00:17:21:00

Because if you believe in God,

you will respect his creation.

 

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And if not,

you will destroy his creation.

 

00:17:25:00     00:17:27:20

That’s my faith.

 

00:17:34:00     00:17:36:00

There are some people that say that Kiribati,

instead of sinking,

 

00:17:37:00     00:17:39:00

it’s expanding.

 

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According to comparisons of maps

from many years ago,

 

00:17:46:00     00:17:47:00

They said that Kiribati was expanding.

 

00:17:48:00     00:17:51:00

Because Kiribati is a fragile country

 

00:17:52:00     00:17:55:00

and it goes with the currents you know,

it is not solid.

 

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So it can move from one side to the other.

 

00:17:59:00     00:18:00:15

But again,

 

00:18:01:10     00:18:04:00

I hope that we’re not sinking.

 

00:18:09:00     00:18:11:00

Your entire world is an island

 

00:18:12:00     00:18:14:00

Like 2 or 3 kilometers long

 

00:18:14:00     00:18:20:00

And you grow up with the same few 100,

a few 1000 people your entire life

 

00:18:20:00     00:18:22:15

And then someone of the outside world comes in

 

00:18:23:00     00:18:27:00

And tells you everything you’ve ever known,

loved or experienced

 

00:18:27:00     00:18:30:00

is going to disappear completely

 

00:18:32:00     00:18:35:00

it’s really hard to comprehend

 

00:18:35:00     00:18:30:00

Imagine if somebody came to your house

and was like,

 

00:18:38:00     00:18:43:00

everything you know, loved and ever touched

is going to disappear tomorrow

 

00:18:45:00     00:18:46:00

I mean, you wouldn’t believe them.

 

00:18:46:20     00:18:49:00

And even if you did believe them,

what are you going to do about it

 

00:18:50:00     00:18:51:00

You live your daily life

 

00:18:51:20     00:18:53:00

It’s not like you have control over the world

 

00:18:53:00     00:18:57:00

I think that’s why the religious leaders

are saying

 

00:18:57:00     00:18:58:00

Well, we believe in climate change

 

00:18:58:15     00:19:00:00

But “God will save us”

 

00:19:00:05     00:19:03:00

Cause if God does not save us,

then who will?

 

00:19:04:18     00:19:06:05

We’re a very small country,

we can’t save ourselves

 

00:19:07:05     00:19:09:18

So I guess we’re in the hands of God

 

00:19:10:00     00:19:13:00

Or maybe the mercy

of the bigger countries

 

00:19:13:00     00:19:15:00

But then I would rather be

in the hands of God.

 

00:19:16:00     00:19:18:00

You’ve got to be brutally realistic

 

00:19:18:00     00:19:21:00

And as a leader I had no choice

but to think like that

 

00:19:22:00     00:19:24:00

To think about something that

 

00:19:25:00     00:19:27:00

that the rest of the people,

do not wish to think about

 

00:19:27:15     00:19:29:00

God is not going to come down.

 

00:19:30:00     00:19:34:00

He has given us the capability,

the talent, the intellect to deal with it.

 

00:19:35:00     00:19:37:00

We’ve read the science

 

00:19:37:15     00:19:39:00

So let us act

 

00:19:40:00     00:19:42:00

You just don’t wait for something

to fall out of heaven. 

 

00:19:43:00     00:19:45:00

That’s not christianity,

that’s stupidity.

 

00:19:51:18     00:19:53:00

Even me being here

 

00:19:54:00     00:19:56:00

I came in with that image of

 

00:19:56:10     00:19:58:00

oh my god my entire island is

disappearing really quickly

 

00:19:59:00     00:20:02:00

and I have to come in and

save as much of the culture as possible.

 

00:20:02:00     00:20:04:00

And then I’ve been here for about a year

 

00:20:04:00     00:20:07:00

and even I started thinking

 

00:20:07:15     00:20:09:00

maybe we can build enough sea walls

 

00:20:09:20     00:20:11:00

maybe we can stay here.

 

00:20:16:15

In the meantime, Anote Tong retired from politics. When we asked if this had anything to do with the numerous climate deniers in his country, he didn’t want to answer. But he’s definitely not ready to give up his fight.

 

00:20:31:00     00:20:34:00

I think what the world has got to understand is

 

00:20:34:10     00:20:41:00

that we would be the first people who would

be dislocated as a result of climate change.

 

00:20:41:05     00:20:43:00

But I can guarantee you,

we will not be the last.

 

00:20:43:20     00:20:47:00

The world has got to be ready

for what is going to happen in the future

 

00:20:48:00     00:20:49:20

They have got to understand

that it is going to happen

 

00:20:50:00     00:20:52:00

And it is going to be on a massive scale.

 

00:20:53:00

We were expecting to find an anxious country in the midst of a mass migration. But besides a former president, everyone is burying their heads in the sand. It seems like only a disaster can convince people the country is actually in danger. And hopefully by then, it won’t be too late for the 115 000 I-Kiribati and their paradise.

 

00:21:21:10     00:21:25:20

Even if people say that this is just a flat, little and poor country.

 

00:21:26:00     00:21:29:15

But because it’s our home, it’s the sweetest

Place for us, as I-Kiribati.

 

00:21:30:00     00:21:35:10

And we are happy to have this beautiful country.
You have the mountains, we have the oceans!

 

00:21:36:00     00:21:41:20

And a beautiful blue ocean,

and the beautiful sun that makes us happy everyday.

 

00:21:42:20     00:21:44:05

And brown.

 

 

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Directed by
Michael Dilissen
Stef Ackx

 

00:22:01 - TEXTED GRAPHIC

Edited by

Ludo Bollen

 

00:22:05 - TEXTED GRAPHIC

Special Thanks

Raimon Kataotao