Director: Jeff Orlowski

How does climate change affect one of the world’s most diverse and important ecosystems, and what does it mean for future generations? These are just two of the questions that the filmmakers behind Netflix’s Chasing Coral set out to answer.

We learned in this doc that the world’s coral population is dying at an alarming rate, and it is not an issue confined to the ocean floor. Inhabitants of the sea depend on coral for sustenance, and civilizations around the world depend on the inhabitants of the sea – making climate change not just an environmental issue, but a socio-economic one too.

Throughout this film, we found ourselves developing an attachment to coral reefs and their well-being, partly because of host Zack Rago’s love for the sea creatures and partly because we learned that we depend on coral as much as any fish does. Chasing Coral manages to capture the beauty of the ocean, confront sadness yet convey hope and is a must-watch in our current political, environmental and economic landscape.