An expedition to the remote Kuril Islands, a volcanic archipelago between Hokkaido, Japan, and Kamchatka, Russia, generously fulfills its primary mission of documenting the islands’ supreme beauty. Directors Taylor Rees and Renan Ozturk evoke a deep sense of discovery in visiting a little-known place, and report that — as documented by a team of intrepid Russian scientists — climate change is pushing life, even here, to the edge of collapse. “I don’t want [the] Kurils to collapse,” says lead scientist Vladimir Burkanov, who hopes that public awareness of the islands’ precious ecosystem might inspire humanity to save it.

World Premiere