Inundation District: Film Screening with Director Q&A

Join Long Now Boston for a special screening of the acclaimed documentary Inundation District, followed by a Q&A with the director, Pulitzer Prize-winning filmmaker and Boston Globe reporter David Abel.

In a time of climate change and rising seas, one of the world's wealthiest, most-educated cities made a fateful decision to spend billions of dollars erecting a new waterfront district—on landfill, at sea level, and well after scientists began warning of the threats. The city called its new quarter the Innovation District. But with seas rising inexorably, others are calling it by a different name: Inundation District.

Abel's film raises urgent questions about long-term thinking and responsibility: How did a city with perhaps more climate scientists per capita than any other make this choice? Who should pay to defend a neighborhood built despite decades of warnings? And what happens when the flooding inevitably comes?

The Seaport's story reveals the collision between quarterly profits and generational consequences—a tension playing out in coastal cities worldwide. It's a stark illustration of what's at stake when we lose sight of the future we're building.

Discussion: Following the 79-minute film, director David Abel will join us for a Q&A exploring the themes of the documentary, the challenges he faces in his climate reporting, and what Boston's choices mean for our collective future.