Only 5 out of 109 danish coastal areas are in good ecological condition, even though Denmark has committed to ensure a good water environment by the year 2027 at the latest.
Fishermen like Tom have seen the changes over their lifetime. When he started he pulled out 300kg of fish with his small boat close to the coast. Today no fish is there to be found.
For the film “Desert Under Water” Emile Carlsen and I followed people affected by this crisis as well as scientists to understand the reasons for it and what we can do about it. And even when the outlook might be grim, there are ways to change things again.
The film was a collaboration with Greenpeace Denmark.
When we started our research for the story, we realised that one of our biggest challenges would be to make people feel the urgency and emotional connection to the topic it deserved.
The deeper we dove into the story, the more it also became apparent that we had to make a film that asked questions instead of giving answers to leave room for dialog, even with groups of people, who normally would not subscribe to Greenpeace’s mission. The story was just too important.
When the film was released Greenpeace organised screenings all over the country as well as building an online campaign around it, inviting local stakeholders and politicians into the conversation.