RED ALERT ON CORAL

Over the past five years, a hundred coral specialists worldwide have gathered the latest data on the coral species— they unify for one sole purpose: to update the extinction risk status of the global reef-building corals.
What is at stake? Preserving corals is a major issue because of their vital role in the overall functioning of the marine environment and for the 1 billion people who depend on them for their livelihood. For the second time (after 2008), a health check-up of the 850 global coral-reef building species is assessed by using the IUCN Red List rigorous methodology.
During the last workshop bringing together experts from the IUCN SSC Coral Specialist Group in Singapore in October 2023, several of them agreed to testify and tell us about their scientific work, their approach and the challenges of this assessement.
What will these results surface? Are we too late? Are the corals on the brink of extinction? Is the coral ecosystem on its way to collapse?

  • Olivier Bourgeois
    Director
    HERE TO STAY, THE OATH OF CYRIAC, FRENCH POLYNESIA, THE RED SEA, GALAPAGOS, BLUE PARADISES, MAURITIUS, ANDAMAN SEA, THE BAHAMAS, BLUE PARADISES II, EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGES GALAPAGOS, EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGES EGYPT, EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGES THAILAND
  • Emma Josefina Pettersson
    Director
  • Franck Meyer
    Editor
    THE OATH OF CYRIAC, FRENCH POLYNESIA, THE RED SEA, GALAPAGOS, BLUE PARADISES, MAURITIUS, ANDAMAN SEA, THE BAHAMAS, BLUE PARADISES II, EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGES GALAPAGOS, EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGES EGYPT, EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGES THAILAND
  • Olivier Bourgeois
    Writer
  • Emma Josefina Pettersson
    Writer
  • Olivier Bourgeois
    Producer
    HERE TO STAY, THE OATH OF CYRIAC, FRENCH POLYNESIA, THE RED SEA, GALAPAGOS, BLUE PARADISES, MAURITIUS, ANDAMAN SEA, THE BAHAMAS, BLUE PARADISES II, EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGES GALAPAGOS, EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGES EGYPT, EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGES THAILAND
  • Olivier Bourgeois
    Underwater Cinematographer
    FRENCH POLYNESIA, THE RED SEA, GALAPAGOS, BLUE PARADISES, MAURITIUS, ANDAMAN SEA, THE BAHAMAS, BLUE PARADISES II, EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGES GALAPAGOS, EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGES EGYPT, EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGES THAILAND
  • Alex Del Olmo
    Underwater Cinematographer
  • Josh Kramer
    Composer
  • Dr. Beth Polidoro
    Key Cast
  • Dr. Katrina S. Luzon
    Key Cast
  • Dr. Sean Porter
    Key Cast
  • Dr. Danwei Huang
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    March 15, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Andorra
  • Country of Filming:
    Singapore
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Olivier Bourgeois, Emma Josefina Pettersson

Emma Josefina Pettersson is an oceanographer, she has participated in the production of numerous documentaries, notably for National Geographic. With "Red Alert on Coral" she co-directs here her first film on a subject that she masters perfectly and for a cause in which she has been involved for many years.

Olivier Bourgeois is a producer and director.
His first feature documentary "HERE TO STAY" (Original title « Nous Resterons sur Terre ») which takes an uncompromising look at the state of the Earth, was co-produced with the French film studio GAUMONT FILM COMPANY. Starring Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Mikhail Gorbachev and Wangari Maathai, environmentalist James Lovelock and Philosopher Edgar Morin, the film has been released in 25 countries with support from UNESCO and UNEP. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1149600/

More Recently (2021) he directed and produced the multi-award winning feature docudrama "THE OATH OF CYRIAC" based on the unbelievable true story of ordinary people saving the antique collections of the Aleppo Museum during Syrian conflict.

Since 2017, Olivier has devoted a large part of his time and energy to raising awareness among the general public about the protection of the oceans through the underwater poetic series “BLUE PARADISES”. Continued to the numerous awards received by the first & second season, the BLUE PARADISES adventure has been renewed for a third season .

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Director Statement

Between the time we write these lines and the time you read them, the planet's oceans and seas will likely have broken new records for temperature rise, giving rise to more and more concerns about the future of several underwater species and coral reefs already in very poor condition. The years follow one another and are similar; after a record November, the year "2023" will be the hottest “in history.”

For more than 5 years now, hundreds of women and men, scientists from the academic world, NGOs, or government organizations, have been gathering together to assess the risk of extinction of our planet's coral species.

Through this short film, we wanted to highlight their work under the aegis of the IUCN but also their unfailing commitment in this race against time to bring out solutions for the conservation of coral species.