Great Green Wall: It’s all connected

The Great Green Wall is joyful, moving, and painfully urgent film that made me ask, “Why have I not heard of this before?” This 2019 film from Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles tells the story of the ambitious Great Green Wall, an Africa-led project to plant trees in an 8,000KM strip across Africa’s Sahel region by 2030. This ambitious initiative (which is about 15% complete) is intended to push back the ongoing desertification of Africa, an existential threat linked to current political instability and cultural destabilization.

The film’s narrator and guide is Malian musician and activist Inna Modja, who travels across the Sahel meeting people, learning more about the Great Green Wall projects and illuminating the social and political issues that drive it. Along the way, she is joined by, among others, fellow musician Betty G. and the desert blues band Songhoy Blues, giving the film an underlying musical road trip vibe.

It’s hard to tell stories about big issues like desertification and forced migration without appearing trite or naïve. And when you add a fantastic soundtrack and center the storytelling around one person, it gets even trickier. But, this film works. I found myself crying at parts and also smiling during the jam sessions. Mostly, I was humbled by how little I understand about Africa and, in particular, this ground-breaking, ecological, pan-African project. If you can’t define “Sahel,” can’t point to Mali on the map, don’t know the impact of Boko Haram, or have not heard Betty G or Inna Modja sing, then this film is surely for you. (And if, like me, you ask, “Why have I not heard this before? Well, it’s all connected.)

Check out the film’s site for screening options. (I watched it here, via the Smith Rafael Film Center’s online streaming.) You can learn more at the United Nation’s Convention to Combat Desertification, including the Great Green Wall Initiative, and this great classroom resource from NatGeo.