What if your country had to be completely evacuated? On Canal+, Thomas Vinterberg questions a future where today’s privileged people become tomorrow’s refugees. Families Like Ours follows several families who discover that the Denmark is preparing to disappear to face the rising waters. Before the country is swallowed up, an architect and his family, a member of the government and her husband must find a solution to secure their future far from their native lands. Through the distribution processes, the preparations for departure and the rise in tensions, the series tells how a country disappears and what happens to its 5.9 million inhabitants. The Canal, NRK and TV4 Sweden co-production is getting a lot of attention. She is applauded by critics. This is particularly true in the way it echoes increasingly complicated geopolitical news, but also in what it tells about the climate issues that occupy governments around the world. Is his scenario unrealistic?
Sea levels will continue to rise in the 21st century
In Families Like Oursthe construction of dikes and the country’s efforts to slow the rising water levels were not enough. After decades of fighting against this phenomenon, and enormous sums invested, Denmark must face the facts: it is only a matter of delaying the inevitable. Other countries have already given up or been condemned to ruin. Such a disaster scenario is not imminent, but sea levels are rising at an alarming rate.
According to an IPCC report, rising temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions have deleterious effects on the climate. Between 1901 et 2018, ocean levels have risen on average by 20 cm. In 2020, the annual rate is estimated at more than 3,5 mm. The IPCC envisaged in 2022, a rise in the average level of the oceans located between 63cm and 1.01m in 2100 at the rate things are going. The scenario of a rise of 2 meters cannot be excluded. An interactive map also allows you to visualize the territories and zones affected by rising water levels according to the importance of the phenomenon. Two meters away, Amsterdam and Venice will be below sea level. It is also possible to see the areas concerned thanks to this interactive map.
A billion people affected
According to UN climate experts, a billion people could be affected by this rising water levels by 2050. These are just as many potential climate refugees that governments around the world will have to manage. In an interview with France InfoThomas Vinterberg explains that he did research to feed his story with real administrative data. “How does a State react to refugees? How do you obtain citizenship in France or elsewhere? How do states treat refugees? How they make them travel. ect…”.
The series is built around a desire for quite captivating realism. We don’t run away like in The Day After or Independence Daywe make an appointment with the emigration office to find out which country is able to welcome us. Separated families, economic collapse and uprooting are strong themes that infuse the story and could well be one of the main challenges of tomorrow. According to projections from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, up to 1.2 billion people could be displaced each year following climate disasters.
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Families Like Ours is currently broadcast on Canal+. Four episodes are already available. Seven are planned. The series brings together a few actors who have already appeared in front of Thomas Vinterberg’s camera, starting with Magnus Millang who played a professor in Drunk.
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