Though made in 1996, the Islands on the Edge of Time documentary attacks problems we still live with today - imperialism, colonialism, corporate exploitation, pollution and rampant corruption- which makes this look at post-independence Palau still remarkably relevant (even if it still feels like a news special of the era in method and look). We don't really think about all those Pacific islands unless they're the setting for a season of Survivor (which Palau definitely was), so this was especially interesting. Manipulated by the U.S. to make themselves beholden to foreign interests, the islands' national independence is quick to become illusory, and suffer disastrous ecological consequences that mirror situations in other countries. We also get a glimpse at a lost culture whose matriarchal leanings still have vestiges, but was diminished, possibly even erased, by patriarchal globalization. The film ends on a hopeful note, but it's hard to believe things got better in the last 30 years.