The Map to Paradise

Airing on Nat Geo, and from Executive Producer Martin Sheen, The Map to Paradise is an adventure-filled and spectacularly gorgeous tale about the birth of the global movement to protect the sea. From underwater worlds of ice to glistening coral sanctuaries, discover what it takes to build a movement and to create positive change. From underwater lands of ice to corals, the 95 minute feature film delivers a colourful collection of character-driven stories that convey the quest of individuals, communities and nations doing what they can to protect the last wild and pristine marine places on Earth.

Filmed across six continents, the filmmakers have set out to challenge the mainstream narrative of hard-hitting environmental documentaries with a “doom and gloom” message, and replace it with one of hope and courage. The regions in the film include Antarctica, the Phillipines, Palau, Australia, the United States, and Europe to capture the sense of romance, magic and charm this movement to protect the sea embodies. The documentary was first shown at a private avant-screening hosted by Prince Albert II of Monaco at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco in June 2018.

A SEA TALE OF A PRINCE, A PRESIDENT & A PIRATE

Along the way, we meet Prince Albert II of Monaco, the President of Palau, Sea Shepherd’s founder Captain Paul Watson (often dubbed ‘a pirate’), an island chief, National Geographic Explorer Enric Sala and other leading marine scientists who are all playing a role in the quest to save the planet. Mixing colourful character-driven stories and hand-rendered animations, The Map to Paradise is a rare urgent environmental wake-up call that retains a sense of awe and wonder for the kind of beauty that is still possible.

The film’s World Premiere took place at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival where internationally acclaimed environmental documentaries, such as Sylvia Earle’s Mission Blue (2014) and Kangaroo the film (2018), have also premiered. While The Map to Paradise continues the Mission Blue theme of the movement to protect the sea, it shares unfolding, untold and unique stories. Co-Director Danielle Ryan says that the release of The Map to Paradise is very timely as global talks have just begun for a treaty to protect the High Seas. “Countries around the world are currently looking to re-map, re-zone and re-write the rules on a global and local scale – an exciting new protection paradigm for Nature in an age where humans are the primary cause of a massive loss of species,” said Ms Ryan. “Gone are the days when we can think of the sea as the Wild West, somewhere where the resources will remain plentiful. Yet, we are struggling as a society to truly accept this. “The solutions are there and they are proven to work, but we aren’t embracing them on a large enough scale. And we have to ask ‘Why?’. Rather than focusing on the ‘doom and gloom’ narrative, we’ve created a story focused on positive engagement of hearts and minds. It’s about changing the cultural narrative.

“As American Conservationist Michael Sutton says in the film, ‘conservationists are good at the ‘I have a nightmare’ speech, but we’ve got to get better at the ‘I have a dream speech’. Some people choose a more passive, behind-the-scenes path, like Prince Albert II of Monaco, who works tirelessly at the highest level of politics.

Then, on the other end of the spectrum, you have activists like Sea Shepherd’s Captain Paul Watson, who is out there on the frontline dedicating his life to preventing the killing of wildlife. The film also features original music by Emmy award-winning composer Daniel Clive McCallum.