everyone just friendly. you can sleep any way you can, without any trouble. climate change is real. it's a reality. i don't want my people to migrate to new zealand, australia, fiji, or whatever. i want my people to stay here, build up the island. build up the local culture, especially the economy. - yeah, (indistinct). (laughing) - [man] we only have lands here. we don't have any lands out of tuvalu. if we migrate, that's not our land. that's not where we belong. we belong to here, in tuvalu. this is our place, our home and our country. (relaxing music) ♪ the ocean ♪ the sand ♪ the reeds in the wind

♪ i'm back asleep - his name is guatua and he's 75 years old, climbing this coconut tree. (laughing) (indistinct) (relaxing music) tati, is the juice from the coconut, not from the nut, but there's a branch, (scraping) before the nut become nuts, it's like a branch that grows out and then it spread out to coconuts. so before that bursts, it's still young, that's where he makes it. he's doing it like smoothly, like a friend, because he's providing for the family. (relaxing music)

so that thing, it's like a funnel, so that the liquid from the tati leaks into the bottle. there are so many uses of this tati. you can drink it, you can make food with it. it's also like our main drink, without using sugar. it's sweet. we can make bread with it, as well. also alcohol. (speaking in tuvaluan) so he's basically said that, it's not like before. before it is like a thing, like if you don't have tati, you're not a real man. so and as you can see the changes between nowadays and the olden days,

that young men, they don't even bother about having tati since there's coke and sprite at the shop. like sweet stuff too like tati. so they don't really do this anymore. so as you can see, it's ready and a bottle is full. it's dripping down. it's all flowing. (relaxing music) ♪ whispering it is so sweet. it's so delicious. ♪ now back to sleep so this is tati. ♪ perchance to dream a dream of me ♪ - we need to make a stand, like coming together as one, even though we're like different countries, different cultures, different. but we still are the same people.

we may have like the different skin colors and everything, but we're still one. together, we can make a big difference. and that's what we really need. we should like take a step now, because if we do it now, we can't wait for the time that tuvalu's about to disappear. just only one coconut, then we'll make a step. since climate change is coming in and it's really coming in closer, we should, i think all i wanna say is like, we should come together and be as one and then work this out. we need to work this out. - (speaking in tuvalu), which basically means, "less talking, but more action." so when you just say, when you just talk, "to stop littering and stuff", without action, that doesn't mean that you're actually preventing climate change. (waves rolling) (soft music) (engine whirring)

- this island is called funafuti. we call it an islet, instead of an island, we call it an islet. - nearly two years now, but it's a good project for us, because before we used to use kerosene and petri, to make our lights on. so, but now it's very nice life at the moment, to use the solar. 10 houses, they use for, so it's house with solar. (indistinct)

(scraping) - we're gonna interview sakalia, which is the leader of this islet, to tell us more about the bio-gas and why did they want it here. (speaking in tuvaluan) - okay, so it's a tank where they fill all the pigs feces inside. (speaking in tuvaluan) that pig feces will make up the gas from it, which is called the bio-gas. (speaking in tuvaluan) okay, so the pig feces, they will get it from the pig pen. (pig oinking) they'll fill it into these tanks. so he got his bio-gas from the government. so the government help him to get to know that they actually have bio-gas and he actually got it from them, to here. (speaking in tuvaluan) okay, so before he got this bio-gas, this tank,

he used to order the gas, like the actual gas bottle from the mainland and they'll transport it here. now he's gonna on it. (clicking) it's free gas. he's gonna keep this bio-gas here forever. - yay! (clapping) (soft music) (children chattering) - this is a school program. right now with the environment, they ask to take out children into, like to go out of the classroom, to help clean the environment. all the children are out of the classroom, picking rubbish. (children chattering) this is a good lesson to them. when they grow up, they hopefully, they will do whatever they had been told in school. (yelling) (children yelling)

- my poem is about air pollution. they say our roads would smell as sweet, even with a different name, but all along with air pollution, i'd say they are to blame. truth be told, to smell a rose, you need the finest of air, but with their lies and not sweet skies, i can't smell a rose anywhere. carbon monoxide is colorless and plain, but to cause pollution is red, a vein. what it is or where, but it's not helping earth's spell, this spell is not fairy tales, but rather of its spark, of brightness and of purity, now plotted by the dark, with a different world comes, different effect is carbon dioxide tale. that bring cows deaths, is harmful and burned by fossil fuels, beware.

thank you very much. (clapping) - i was surprised by the diversity and the different kinds of churches that are all on this one small island. (motorbike whirring) - [man] how would you describe the role of faith in tuvalu? - they do believe that there is a god out there watching over us. it's like a really big thing here in tuvalu. the faith here in tuvalu (dog barking) is a strong thing. i think that's the thing that's holding us together. as tuvaluans, being a christian, it's not just being a christian, but believing that (dog barking) there's a god out there, which we call it, our father. who put us into this earth for a reason. we do really need faith, 'cause climate change. imagine climate change. so we have to take a step, or a leap of faith to like (choir singing) get rid of this climate change. (bell ringing)

(choir singing continues) god is our only mountain. you need to have faith, when you know climate change is affecting your island. probably that's why tuvalu is still here, 'cause you know, (dog barking) we have faith and stuff. (choir singing continues) (preaching in tuvaluan) - when those hard times come, we all are safe in the hands of god. i don't believe in climate change, because the bible says so. god promised noah, that there's no more flood. i think a lot of people have the same faith as me. a lot of them, but not everybody. even though they all go to church and stuff like that, but they don't believe.

some of them, they don't believe what i believe. (waves rolling) (drumming) - i live in tuvalu all of my life. i was working with the minister of hope affairs as a rural development planner. i go around all the islands. so i have a fair idea of what is going on in those islands and yeah. we worried about climate change, because one of these days, all that will be banished. where will we go? we don't want to go and live somewhere else. we want to stay in tuvalu, 'cause we are tuvaluans. (laughing) opinion in here, is going around, they're like, "why worry about tomorrow, because let tomorrow take care of itself. we have been living here for quite some time now. why we should go away?" well, the thing is,

(baby wailing) climate change is here, it's here and we've seen a lot of signs. (motorbike revving) well there's a lot of change. (motorbike whirring) when tuvalu actually started to gain independence, we didn't have much vehicles, no electricity, no telephones. now all these things are here. there's a lot of rubbish in tuvalu, right now. our lands are shrinking, getting smaller and smaller. where will we dump those rubbish? where will we dump those rubbish, if our land are getting smaller? we have no place for this rubbish in tuvalu. our land is taken by the sea. (equipment whirring) that's an issue, a big issue in tuvalu. i've heard people saying that they're thinking about migration, because of issues of climate change.

there is no other hope for me. i can't call australia home, or new zealand. tuvalu's my home. tuvalu is just a small country. we try to save tuvalu. now, will help save the world. (waves rolling) (somber music) (children chanting in tuvaluan) (laughing) (somber music) - some, they were saying, "anywhere you go, you die and everyone will die. so why we had to go? we had to be here. this is our home. if anything happens, it's our home and if you're gone, you're at home."

(somber music continues) (indistinct) (baby crying) - as a mother, i would be sad if my child doesn't know about tuvalu, in the future. (baby crying) maybe i can only talk about it, but my child will know, because he or she won't see it in future. (waves rolling) i am 19 years of age. i'm expecting a child. (laughs) now i'm going on to my six months. i do worry about the future of my children. i'm starting to plan migrating, to overseas countries, because of climate change, which force us to move. (bird chirping) (children yelling) i would like to let my child know that,

wherever we go, they are still tuvaluans. i want them to carry tuvalu in their hearts. (waves rolling) (bold piano music) (motorbike whirring) - this is our proof of climate change. sea water, it's a lot of water, sea water there. (laughs) oh! oh (laughs)! my shoes, they got stuck in the mud. (laughs) there's our proof for climate change,

affecting us, right there. sea water affecting our pulaka pits. it's a lot of water. sea water there. so you can see pulakas are dying, because of sea water rise. (chopping) pulaka has been a traditional food for many years. (rooster crowing) symbolizes our culture, actually and the food we eat. (chopping) our elders prefer eating pulaka, rather than rice. so pulaka is really important to us. so we can see now how sea water is affecting it. it's just kind of sad, to see it dying. (motorbike whirring) i wonder if our future generations, they can see with their own eyes, as we can see it now. i don't really think it would be long enough for all of these pulaka pits to die.

i do worry a lot. we are witnessing now that most coastal areas has been eroded, decreasing land mass and increasing population. i think in the near future, people will be forced to go, to import to other countries, because of the landmass and economics and financial stuffs like that, yeah. they don't wanna leave, but they have no other choice, but just to go. for the sake of their children and future generations. we'll be left without any choice, just to abandon our home, if climate change continues to affect our lives. - we were talking about how tuvalu could be underwater in 50 years. so what is you all's future? are you guys planning on staying?

are you planning on going? what does that look like? - (laughs) it's really hard to answer it, but i would rather stay. but for me, (dog barking) i just did not wanna leave my island, like to come to the real deal, i think we have to like move out. - to leave tuvalu and go to another place, another country, it saddens me. so, i've got mixed emotions and i don't know whether to go. i don't know how to choose. so, if tuvalu actually goes under water, i would actually like to go with tuvalu under water, 'cause i don't wanna go to another place. so yeah, i would actually, i don't wanna move anywhere else. i just wanna stay here. - if tuvalu's gonna sink, then i guess we have no choice. we have to move, right? imagine our field that the airstrip,

soon it will be gone and no plane will come. no plane will go. then thinking ahead, we really have to make a move right now. for my future, i'm planning to move. but every time i go for an education, i always think back, "man, i miss tuvalu." no other place like tuvalu. the love and careness that's in tuvalu. like all that stuff. - what were some of your expectations going in and did anything surprise you about the process of filming and working with us? - well, what i was expecting, just like other documentary, honestly this documentary that we did, we went like deep to the ground. like we dig really deep. like example, we went to a funeral

and i haven't seen any documentary about a funeral. also, there were sea water inside the grave hole and then we have to pump it out. that's the first time i kind of saw it too. that's really sad. knowing that our ancestors are just soaking on sea water right now. (somber music) for our tradition and customs, i had that feeling always every day. being born here. being raised up here, i have always had that feeling that i wanna come back to my country. (somber music continues) they dug the whole in the morning

and they prepared for the burial in the afternoon. so when they came back, (water gurgling) it's filled up with sea water. (speaking in tuvaluan) for me in our culture, like to go in with a camera and i'm shooting, it's kind of unique, kind of like it's weird. for me, i would feel like awkward and i feel sorry for the mom. i was hoping that no one gets mad, which is what we did was good. they accepted us to be part of their funeral. we came there and set up. nobody even bothered. even like when we came by, they said, "are you taking a good shot?" like making a way where we can shoot. they don't want to view their back to the camera. so people were like, we were trying to show that we respect them, in a way.

also, they showed their respect to us. - seeing the water rising from the grave they dug, on that morning, when we went filming, it was kind of sad seeing how sea level rise and climate change affecting our lives, especially for moments like that. (pump gurgling) to be honest on that day, i was kind of shy going around with the camera, shooting everything. i kind of felt like disrespectful, just for a little bit for the family. i felt sorry for their loss. we were there moving around with our cameras, doing our own thing, while the other families were feeling sorry about their loss and all. (pump gurgling) (people chattering) - [man] hold on, hold on, hold on. (people chattering) (pump gurgling) - there was a lot of sea water inside the grave and a family had to pump all the water outside, so they can lay their son in his final resting place.

it was kind of sad, 'cause they couldn't find other places where they could lay his body, that it's not affected by sea water. (singing in tuvaluan) (dirt shoveling) - our land is kind of affecting with climate change and that's where the person is gonna rest his body. it's filled up with sea water. i know right now, it's filled up with water again. so as you can see, our land is kind of affecting with climate change and it's really a big story to tell about sea level rise and looking at it that the body that our loved ones that will be rested on, sea water, it's tragic.

(singing in tuvaluan) other people from other country, could also know that our country is affected by climate change. (singing in tuvaluan) - even in death, climate change is still affecting us. (singing in tuvaluan) (somber music) - [man] if we try to save tuvalu, it will help save the world. we are all tuvaluans. (singing in tuvaluan)

>> [singing in native language] ♪ ♪ >> male narrator: over 1.4 billion people live on less than $1 a day. the majority of these poor families live in rural areas and make their living from agriculture. for these people, land is the most important asset they can own. land is their source of shelter, food, income, and security. unfortunately, most of these people do not have secure rights to the land they till.