“Been Here Stay Here” Portrays Vanishing Island

Been Here Stay Here (David Usui, 2024) 3½ out of 5 stars

Director David Usui makes his solo-feature debut with Been Here Stay Here, a documentary portrait of Tangier Island, located in Virginia’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Since the mid-1800s, the island has lost two-thirds of its land mass and is projected to essentially vanish in the relatively near future (as in, it won’t last till the end of this century). That’s rough news for the 400 or so current inhabitants, most of whom are descended either from 18^th-century settlers or from others who have been there for a good long while.

Whether you believe that climate change is real or not, or that it’s both real and caused by humans or not, the proof is in the watery pudding here. There is no denying that sea levels are rising and resultant storm surges have wiped out habitats that help keep the island secure in its place. More and more of it is turned into sand every year, which is then easily washed or blown away.

Usui follows a number of locals over the course of an engaging 85 minutes, among them Mayor James Eskridge, college-age student Cameron Evans (who studies on the mainland at Virginia Wesleyan), and 7-year-old Jacob Parks. Their various daily activities provide a multi-generational perspective on the life (and eventual) death of Tangier.

Both Usui and his co-cinematographer, Peter Steusloff, provide breathtaking images that showcase the beauty of the region. It’s hard to believe that such a postcard-perfect place will soon disappear, and this despite the deep-seated religious beliefs that animate much of the community. Or maybe religion prevents some from accepting the realities of science.

To drive this possibility home, Usui includes footage of another documentary crew, this one from Germany, as they tour the island and ask direct questions of the residents. There’s also a young pastor who visits to try to bridge the occasional gap between faith and climate science. Still, it’s not the natives who are the issue here; even the ones who reject humanity’s role in sea-level rise accept that there are things that the Virginia state government could do (which next-door Maryland does for its own islands) that would save Tangier. No one wants to pay for expensive sea walls, however.

Been Here Stay Here offers strong observational content filled with intriguing characters. If Usui sometimes drives his points home a little too obviously, this doesn’t take away from their essential truths. Watching this made me want to visit Tangier Island before it’s too late. The climate clock is ticking.

Christopher Llewellyn Reed

Chris Reed is the editor of Film Festival Today. A member of both the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, Chris is, in addition, lead film critic at Hammer to Nail and the author of Film Editing: Theory and Practice.