Belfast filmmaker Jim Merkel and his family are venturing out on a tour of movie theaters along Maine’s coast for showings of his new documentary, “Saving Walden’s World.”
It won’t be a normal tour, though: The twist is that they’ll use a sailboat as their main means of transportation, to eliminate the need for fossil fuels.
“We’ll walk wherever we get to once we’re into the port,” Merkel said. “We pick theaters that are fairly close to where we can anchor our boat, so we can row ashore and walk a mile into town.”
“Saving Walden’s World” is a documentary that explores how communities in Cuba, Slovenia and India have learned to reduce their carbon footprints in the face of climate change and make other advances in health care and education — well ahead of a 2030 target that the United Nations has established for all its members to meet a set of sustainable development goals.
The film was named for Merkel’s son, Walden, who was six at the time of the film’s conception.
“Our film is really showing examples of where women have had access to, say, free higher education for 60 years, and reproductive freedom. They’ve had universal healthcare and programs to eradicate poverty,” Merkel said. “That’s what we want to show. Our film is highlighting where these sustainable development goals have been done decades ahead of this 2030 target.”
The documentary took eight years to complete and has been selected for showings at 10 film festivals so far, including the Maine Outdoor Film Festival that took place July 28 in Portland.
Other stops on the Maine leg of the tour will include Rockland this coming Sunday, followed by Biddeford, Yarmouth, Boothbay Harbor, Bucksport, and Bar Harbor. It will last from now until Sept. 1.
Merkel, who left his former career as a weapons engineer to become a full-time advocate for the environment, said the goal of the sailing tour is to practice what he preaches.
“When you can do something you love and aren’t burning any fossil fuels, it’s extra special,” he said.
He added, “I’ve never sailed a boat south of Rockland, so this, for me, is a real adventure.”
Merkel’s boat is a Saber 28 named Alegria, built in 1977 and named after the Spanish word for “happiness.” Merkel bought it from a private seller in Boothbay Harbor in 2015 and found the name to be apt.
While traveling, Merkel will be showing his son Walden, now 14, the ropes of sailing, which he taught himself after early exposure to boating as a child.
In addition to sailing, Merkel will drive a Hyundai Ioniq hybrid electric vehicle to additional stops on the tour in New Brunswick, Canada, and Crystal Lake, Illinois in the coming months, finishing out in New York City this fall.
“I’m the type of crazy person who always thinks I can do something adventurous,” Merkel said. “I’ve biked across Canada twice, and I just start off and think, ‘I can do this,’ and after two weeks, everything is sore, and you’re sleeping on a little pad in the middle of nowhere with wildlife all around you, but that’s the same way I did it with making a film.”
