Norwich University will host documentary filmmaker Ben Kalina and screen his 2014 Sundance Film Festival winning documentary on climate change and coastal communities, “Shored Up: When Human Nature and the Force of Nature Collide,” on Monday, April 20 at 7 p.m.

A panel discussion on community resiliency with Kalina, a Norwich engineering professor, and a state of Vermont employee involved in Tropical Storm Irene response among others will follow. Both events are free and open to the public and will be held in Cabot 85.

“Shored Up” asks tough questions about our coastal communities and our relationship to the land in the face of disappearing beaches and coastlines.

According to Variety, Kalina took inspiration from John McPhee’s book “The Control of Nature” and originally set out to make a film about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ efforts to replace sand along our eroding shorelines.

That was before Hurricane Sandy struck. Using footage from the devastating storm and its aftermath, Kalina constructed an intentionally understated but sturdy film.

Writing in Variety, Geoff Berkshire describes it as a “sobering examination of the threat rising sea levels pose to coastal cities and the economic factors that encourage doubters to keep their heads firmly buried in fast-disappearing sand.”

Joining Kalina on Monday’s panel are:

· Kate White, PhD, of the US Army Corp of Engineers Climate Preparedness and Resilience Community of Practice, Institute for Water Resources

· Tara Kulkarni, PhD, assistant professor of civil engineering, Norwich University

· Ben Rose, recovery and mitigation section chief, Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, Vermont Dept. of Public Safety

· Michael Crowley, senior program officer for the US Program, Institute for Sustainable Communities

· Ben Kalina, producer and director, “Shored Up”