Rise: From One Island to Another

Synopsis

A short poetic film, Rise: From One Island to Another offers an evocative meditation on climate change as both a global crisis and a locally grounded experience. Director Dan Lin brings together two acclaimed poets, activists, and land defenders: Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner from Aelon Kein Ad (Marshall Islands) and Aka Niviâna from Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). Their words weave together radically different yet deeply connected landscapes of melting ice and rising seas, revealing far-reaching intersections between colonialism and climate change. Jetñil-Kijiner and Niviâna stand together in defiance of global power systems that value certain lives above others, perpetuating centuries of colonial erasure and dispossession. They also offer a vision of solidarity. Here, poetry emerges here as a form of ceremony activated through exchanges of legends and gifts, with the power to call a better future into being.

Director Bio

Dan Lin is a Taiwanese-American filmmaker and photojournalist focusing on the impacts of climate change, post-colonialism, and globalization on cultural identity within Indigenous communities across the Pacific Islands and in Asia. Currently, Daniel is the Associate Director for Strategic Alliances at Nia Tero. He entered into the film world as a response to the complexity of issues arising from the Pacific, with a desire to provide a more visceral experience for broader audiences. He recently directed, Remathau: People of the Ocean (2025), a feature documentary that follows the journey of Nicole Yamase, the first Micronesian to dive to the deepest part of the ocean, Challenger Deep, in the Marianas Trench.

Distribution

350.org
Full Film: https://vimeo.com/289369328/bf8c8de069?fl=pl&fe=cm 

 

We are used to people speaking on our behalf. And I think it’s important for Indigenous people all around the world that people pass the mic to us to how the world in our own words, on our own terms.