No Island Like Home

This is a beautiful movie bringing light to a somewhat unknown community in the aftermath (and also on the brink) of natural devastation. After the 1995 volcano, two-thirds of the people were forced to leave. The industry on the island has also been badly affected, and there is still an exclusion zone covering a large part of the island since the volcano is very much still active. What's perhaps most heartbreaking is the fact that the capital city itself was effectively destroyed. This means that the 5,000 or so still left on the island have had to relocate, and the tight-knit community that was once part of the vibrant city of Plymouth is now scattered across the island.

I think this movie is a real tribute to people who are also in similar situations around the world, and it asks some really important questions that are key to our understanding of human nature more broadly. What do we do when our sense of belonging is destroyed by the brute force of nature, where there is no one to blame, and there is no one to direct our anger towards? How do we live alongside these very real catastrophes, knowing that, in the face of nature, our communities are fundamentally fragile? This movie explores these questions and more in a thoughtful and careful way.