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Winds of Change: Following the footprints of El Nino

El Nino is one of the biggest natural climate cycles, with a footprint spanning the Pacific Ocean, the largest ocean basin on Earth. Sometimes, it is weak. Other times, it is a monster, leaving a trail of destruction across the tropical Pacific, from fire in South-east Asia, to flood on the western coast of the Americas. In this documentary, join The Straits Times journalists Audrey Tan and Mark Cheong as they trace the footprints of El Nino, and find out how this climate phenomenon has impacted lives, livelihoods and biodiversity in Indonesia and Ecuador's Galapagos Islands.

  • Audrey Tan
    Director
  • Mark Cheong
    Director
  • Audrey Tan
    Writer
  • Mark Cheong
    Writer
  • Audrey Tan
    Producer
  • Mark Cheong
    Producer
  • Dr Xie Shang-Ping
    Key Cast
  • Lahiru Wijedasa
    Key Cast
  • Dr Arief Wijaya
    Key Cast
  • Anton Ario
    Key Cast
  • Dr Carmen Guzman
    Key Cast
  • Dr Gustavo Jimenez
    Key Cast
  • Eduardo Espinoza
    Key Cast
  • Stuart Banks
    Key Cast
  • Rodney Martinez
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature, Short, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Educational, Scientific, Documentary, Climate
  • Runtime:
    18 minutes 34 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 9, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Singapore
  • Country of Filming:
    Ecuador, Indonesia, Singapore, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes
Distribution Information
  • The Straits Times
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: Internet
Director Biography - Audrey Tan, Mark Cheong

Audrey Tan is the environment correspondent at The Straits Times, Singapore's national broadsheet. During her six years at the paper, she covered a range of regional and international environmental issues, including climate change, transboundary pollution, and the illegal wildlife trade. She is a recipient of both the Singapore Press Holdings' undergraduate and graduate scholarships, and in June 2019, graduated with a masters degree in climate science and policy from the University of California's Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

El Nino may be a natural climate phenomenon, but its widespread impacts across the tropical Pacific Ocean gives us a glimpse into what things could be like in a warming world. This documentary aims to humanize the impacts of this climatic event, by highlighting the stories of real communities in real places. On our voyage across the Pacific Ocean, photojournalist Mark Cheong and I visited Indonesia and the Galapagos Islands, two archipelagos that are Ground Zero for the impacts of El Nino. Expect stories of love and loss: hear from parents who had to endure the loss of a child, and from scientists who had to witness the devastation of populations of rare wildlife during previous El Nino events. Their stories all point to one reality -- that as the climate changes, it is more than just dollars and cents that are at stake.