WAM Abu Dhabi, 2 March 2013 (WAM) - The Abu Dhabi Documentary Film Club of Anasy Media Production screened at Zayed University the ''The Island President'', a 2011 documentary film about the efforts of then-Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed to tackle climate change.

The movie, winner of the Toronto International Film Festival Cadillac People's Choice Documentary Award in 2011, was watched by Sheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, Dr. Sulaiman Al Jassim, Vice President of Zayed University, two former Maldives ministers Mohammed Aslam of Transport and Environment and Ahmed Naseem of Foreign Affairs.

Directed by Jon Shenk, The Island President is the story of President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, a man confronting a problem greater than any other world leader has ever faced the literal survival of his country and everyone in it. Nasheed was faced with an even greater challenge: as one of the most low-lying countries in the world, a rise of three feet in sea level would submerge the 1200 islands of the Maldives enough to make them uninhabitable.

The Island President captures Nasheed's first year of office, culminating in his trip to the Copenhagen Climate Summit in 2009, where the film provides a rare glimpse of the political horse-trading that goes on at such a top-level global assembly. Nasheed is unusually candid about revealing his strategies leveraging the Maldives' underdog position as a tiny country, harnessing the power of media, and overcoming deadlocks through an appeal to unity with other developing nations. When hope fades for a written accord to be signed, Nasheed makes a stirring speech which salvages an agreement. Despite the modest size of his country, Mohamed Nasheed has become one of the leading international voices for urgent action on climate change.On 7 February 2012, Mohamed Nasheed resigned the presidency under massive protects.

Nasheed proved to be an unusually shrewd and sophisticated politician who grasped that the only way he could stand up to the catastrophic issues of climate change facing his country would be to take the Maldives cause to the world stage.

After the screening, former Maldives president spoke to the audience througha recorded speech about the climate change in his country.

A panel discussion was held about the documentary where Mohammed Aslam commented on the film.

At the end, Sheikh Shakhbout presented the two Maldives minister a commemorative shield to the former Maldives leader.

WAM/TF