Every week the latest episode in this groundbreaking series is available to steam straight to your computer. You can also get a behind the scenes look at each film by reading the directors comments.
By producer/Director Jago Smith
Dusty, barren, desert. These are the words that entered my head as we trundled towards our location - the village of Diagle in Senegal. Our main interviewee Keba had taken us back home to where he used to farm before the droughts. He was one of many Climate Change refugees who have fled to the overstretched capital city of Dakar to feed his children. Once he met his family and spent time in his village we really saw him smile for the first time in our presence - it was like the huge weight of city-living had been lifted off of his shoulders. Next we found his fellow villager Ousmane who was due to leave for the capital next day. We felt privileged to witness Ousmane's last remaining moments with his three year old son Ada before he left. Ironically in the developed world too - New South Wales, Australia - we met people who complained about younger farming generations leaving to find work in the city. What struck me making this film was the human cost of climate change - not only the obvious risk of starvation but how families and communities are being torn apart daily by this global phenomenon.
Half the world's population face severe food shortages by the end of the century as climate change takes its toll on the global harvest. Drought in the Sahal, which runs through Senegal, means many climate migrants are flocking to the capital, Dakar, to find work to feed their families. “Hot Cities” follows migrants from their villages, where farming has almost been wiped out, to the city. This film also looks at what is being done to feed Senegal in the future.
