More a lobbying effort than a forthright investigation of an environmental disaster, filmmaker Roger Sorkin's documentary doesn't want to discuss climate change, but rather its regional consequences, particularly the huge and growing problem of rising tidewaters in Hampton Roads, which is both a massive harbor hosting the world's largest naval base and a metropolitan region comprising 17 cities and municipalities in southeast Virginia. Flooding has become a frequent crisis there, leading to emergency rescues, impassable roads (causing lost school time and lower productivity in jobs), and eroding naval preparedness to defend the nation. Both private citizens and military personnel talk about the dramatic impact of a rising sea level on the community, and while there is an occasional hint of annoyance about conservative and congressional resistance to accepting climate science, the film scrupulously avoids buzzwords that might turn off deniers. The reason: Sorkin is trying to draw bipartisan attention to bring about constructive strategies for mitigating the problem of floodwaters. Tidewater is an informative film about an alarming subject, even though its skirting of the climate change issue feels somewhat disingenuous. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (T. Keogh)
Tidewater
(2017) 42 min. DVD: $49: public libraries; $89: high schools; $250: colleges & universities. DRA. Green Planet Films. PPR. Closed captioned. Volume 33, Issue 2
Tidewater
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: