Reviews of some of the movies screened -
“Be water, My friend”
This UNESCO funded film, “Be water, My friend” tracks the research of Professor Gordon Lightgoot, an expert on ancient water monuments as he tries to understand and rectify the alarming drying up of Karez’s in northern Iragi region of Kurdistan.
Karez is a network of underground tunnels that connect many wells eventually leading to the mosque, where it is used for ablution, then fed to cattle before irrigating fields. These structures that have existed for thousands of years in villages in Kurdistan have begun to fail since the drought in 2005.
The film localizes the global pandemic of water scarcity. With an Iranian team working on a pilot project to revive the Karez in one village, the film brings out the need for a global effort to solve these issues.
A straightforward film by Joshka Wessels, without an elaborate plot, explains the Karez, the reasons for its decline and methods being utilized to tackle them.
Brooks Soak Country
Brooks Soak Country is a film by Australian filmmaker Lisa Watts, about a very Australian problem – displacement of aborigine’s and the consequent destruction of the land and culture. The movie tracks the return of the original aborigine inhabitants of Rrwker, more than forty years after they were shot off their land by “whitefellas” after a tribe’s member killed a white.
Rrwker, holds and important spot among the tribes as it was the only water source during drought for the tribes who lived here. Watts intersperses the narrative with tribal songs taking of - how the man created fire, how the sugarbag bee’s comb was a treat for kids bringing the viewer closer to the culture of the aborigines. By narrating a story of how a tribes member destroying a soakage would have been killed, the audience understands the respect placed in conservation of water and natural resources by the tribe.
In 1896, with the whites colonized the land and setting up large cattle ranches the tribe was slowly driven off. Now the returnee’s lament that there is no water and no people except for the “whitefellas” leaving the tribe member feeling “lonely” as they remember happy childhood memories from Rrwker.
The story achieves what it sets out to do, imbibing the audience in the culture and spirit of the Ti Tree tribe and revealing the dramatic change in the water resources since the incursion.
“The Soul of Water”
“The Soul of Water” is a never before seen take on the physical, spiritual and emotional entity that water is to the Scandinavian filmmaker Kurt Skoog.
The film begins high in the mountains of his native country where we follow the movements of a clear brook - the unbroken movement of water. Movement that sometimes occurs in a flash or sometimes taking millions of years. Skoog perceives a profound quality of water – that water contains the whole history of the world. He explains that the same drop falling as tears from the eyes of dinosaur, quenched the thirst of a prehistoric hunter also fell as rain drops in Paris – “Turning then and now into one.”
Using the lifecycle of the dipper, a passerine bird that lives in the rapids, he tells the changing nature of water with the changing seasons. He draws from the simple fact that in water attraction occurs between hydrogen and oxygen molecules at the submicroscopic allow water to dissolves more substances than any other liquid, expands on freezing and occurs in three-phases simultaneously all of which are implicit to life on Earth.
The director’s personal interpretation of water as an ethereal drop of elixir changes the audience’s acuity of water forever.
Addicted to Plastic
“Addicted to Plastic” is an 85-minute film shot over three years and in over 12 countries. This phenomenal effort put in Canadian filmmaker Ian Connacher shows.
On a boat in the middle of the Pacific, where the atmosphere variations have given rise to a gyre—giant toilet bowls of swirling waters— which sucks in any garbage adrift in the vicinity, the crew fishes out plastic bottles and Styrofoam cubes covered with barnacles. With numbers like 40,000 pieces of plastic per square mile of ocean and there being 10 times more plastic than plankton, Connacher explains just what is happening to all the recycled plastic.
Starting off with the how depleting natural resources like wood, rubber, cork, silk led to the adoption of plastic. To the throwaway lifestyle post-World War 2, where plastic became ubiquitous and invisible, the film tracks the 100 year history of plastic.
Then traveling the world to understand attempt to mitigate this risk we meet, people trying to recycle plastic to make everything from tie rods for rail road tracks, hand bags to fluff—which can be used as compost to grow plants!
Filled with interesting facts and always questioning every notion, the film “Addicted to Plastic” will keep hold your attention from start to finish.
“Water and a City”
“Water and a City” by Swati Dandekar is a film covering all aspects of the water practices of Bangalore.
The filmmaker speaks to ordinary citizens of Bangalore ranging from the marginalized living in slums to a homemaker from the lower middle class to a young couple living in a swanky new apartment. Through them Swati points out that while the middle-class homemaker is paying Rs 6/ kilo liter of water to the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewage Board, the young couple paying Rs 9/ kilo liter—as they fall in the higher consumptions bracket—, the poorest who are not connected to BWSSB buy pots of water for Rs 4 each costing them Rs 300/ kilo liter!
The other revelation that Swati makes is the fragmentation of jurisdiction over water monuments in the city of Bangalore. She points out that the Lake Development Authority governs lakes; ground water by the Department of Mines and Geology; storm water drains by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike; the water supply and sewage by the BWSSB, all of which has led to a fragmentation of responsibility.
This well researched documentary is comprehensive, taking into account the problems affecting the supply and sewage from river, ground and rain water, how it effects different strata of society, reasons for such poor management practices and viable solutions. Although specific to Bangalore, this is same story that is played out in most metro in India and as such does not lose out relevance.
Here are some bytes of the movies screened on Day 2 - August 28
Dammed Rain
“Gabhricha Paus” or “Dammed Rain”, written and directed by Satish Manwar, is a story of one of the more than one lakh eight thousand farmers that have committed suicide in India between due to failure of crops.
When a farmer from the same village commits suicide, Alka worries that her husband Kisna might take the same route. She confides in her mother-in-law and together they hatch plans to keep Kisna from taking his life. Plans include preparing expensive sweet roti’s for dinner and sending her son, Dinu, to spy on his dad.
When the local moneylender refuses to extend credit, they pawn their jewellery to buy cottonseeds. All along, the neighboring farmer, Patil, advises Kisna not to farm as they rains will fail like they did the past two years. Kisna persists only to find the rains fail him. At this point memorable exchange of dialogue occurs when Kisna says retorting to Patil’s pessimism, “Till the day I die I will not quit farming.” Patil retorts, “That is what even I am afraid of,” capturing the motif of the film.
Through branching subplots, the film also sheds light on challenges faced in obtaining compensation from the authorities, educational shortcomings, irregular electricity and greedy moneylender. All the while not losing out on the main plot of the “Dammed Rain.”
The film has an authentic portrayal of rural life; so much so that language of filming is a dialect of Marathi spoke in the region of Vidharbha. The script flows seamlessly with meticulous attention to detail. This combined with the flawless cinematography of the film make it one of the most compelling films ever.
The Water of Chenini
“The Water of Chenini” is a film detailing the changing lives of the inhabitants of the Oasis of Chenini in Tunisia after water has become scarce after commencement of a phosphorous and cement industry.
The voice of a young girl narrates the story of the changing fortunes of the oasis. We meet her uncle whose fields receive a staggered water supply once in forty days; her brother who makes manure from palm trees; of her friend who migrates to the city to work despite wanting to live in the oasis.
The film by Elisa Mereghetti captures the life in Chenini and the uncertain future with each character lending depth to the slow, real middle-eastern Oasis that Chenini is, or was…
World of Water
The film “World of Water” by Carlo Brescia journeys along water courses that run down Concucos, Peru, meeting people who through they unique experiences brings to life the belief, celebrations, myths and scenery of the region.
Antonio, a carpenter, recalls his youth when he once prayed to Tower Mountain for rain and it rained for two whole days. We then meet Ninfa, who show us the right way to make corn beer that is “Mamasita”, Bebel, an archeologist who narrates a legend and a mountaineer who complains slopes turning steep due to retreating glaciers.
The whole film is united by the proximity to water with each character adding their own charm to the story that is set amidst the stunning mountain scenery. The film leaves the viewer with an unmistakable presence of the people and scenery of Concucos.
Go with the flow
“Go with the flow” is a film set in a country where two-thirds of the population lives below sea level, Netherlands. The film by Joshka Wessels reacts to the rising sea levels, and increased rainfall, which are threatening the country’s land.
The film grabs your attention with an opening thought that Netherlands should be allowed to go under water. Three centuries of Dutch engineering has focused on building dykes and dredging sand from the North Sea to fortify the beaches. It was on this reclaimed land that Fons Bergmans and his family had farmed since the 17th century.
But now, the new threats have brought a radical response from the Dutch. Instead of keeping the water out, they now embarked on an ambitious project to allow “Go with the flow.” This involves building flood zones along rivers. Ironically, the flood zones gulp back the land the Bergmans had farmed on till now. The Dutch are a committed lot so much so that they have begun building homes on concrete pontoons.
The film speaks emphasizes how the Dutch have gone about implementing this new idea with very specific localized solutions, something that should be a model for the rest of the world.
Parobas – The Émigré
“Does the changing course of a river change the boundaries between states?”
This is the fundamental question that the film “Parobas – The Émigré” raises. The film by Sudipta Mukhopadhaya narrates the plight of the residents of an island, who though are Indian citizens do belong to any of its twenty-eight states.
The river islands, called Chars, formed after construction of the world’s longest barrage, the Farakka barrage, across the Ganges. The change in discharge of water, has swallowed land is some places and created in land in others – Chars. The people, who lost their land, occupied this new-formed land only to be told that they no longer belonged to Bengal. But, the state of Jharkhand, with vested interests, adopts these people, Bengal accuses them of encroaching into their state.
Caught in this limbo, the residents of the Chars have been labeled refuges and are denied state education, healthcare, roads and even the right to vote. Now, they have taken things into their own hand, building a school without any state support.
Mukhopadhaya, with the poetic flourish of the erudite ancestors of his state, portrays the plight and resilience of the Chars.
Renukaji, In Delhi’s Taps
“Renukaji, In Delhi’s Taps,” is a film by Kurush Canteenwala, which travels to Renuka Valley in Himachal Pradesh to see the Rs 3500 crore dam on the Giri river that is all set to submerge 1630 hectares of pristine agricultural land and wildlife reserve.
To quench the thirst of Delhi, Bhakra Nangal was built in the 50s and later on to Pong, but it being the Capital of the Nation, Renukaji is the new victim. “We do not want this dam,” says a woman from the Renukaji. She echoes the voice of the entire valley, wher about 17-village panchayaths are affected. The land in question is extremely fertile where dal, turmeric, tomatoes, greens, chillis, banana, guavas, mangoes are grown. So much so that one villager says, “The only thing we buy is salt and sugar.”
With no rehabilitation project or even land being allotted and Environmental Clearances being given with false reports of land usage, the film question the whether the nation is really a welfare state, with the national capital itself behaving like a totalitarian state.
Here are some bytes of the movies screened on Day 3 - August 27
“When the World Sinks”
On 25th May 2009, Cyclone Aila ravaged Bangaldesh.
The film “When the World Sinks” follows what happened on that fateful day and examines the larger picture of Global Climate Change and the consequences for this nation where 40 per cent of the land mass is at sea level.
The film starts in the island of Gabura, Southern Bangladesh, where amidst heavy rain channels broadcast warnings, “Warning level seven, abandon area now.” By next morning winds speed reach 110km/h breaching the dikes at fourteen places.
Six months later, the islands paddy fields have been inundated with salt water and the flimsy dykes still under construction. The film then follows of widow, whose boat disappeared during the storm. The paddy fields have now been replaced with the less labor-intensive shrimp farms leaving her son no option but migrate to Dhaka, to join the twelve million people there to work.
Breaking from the narrative are graphic visuals of the lynching of a Royal Bengal Tiger that strayed into a village, by 300 villagers who lasso the cat and hang it before hacking it to death with axes and sticks.
In the film, Climate Change experts, question the North countries inaction, by asking how the estimated 200 million climate change refugees in 2050, will be accommodated. With one professor saying, “If the boat sink, all of it will sink; it is not that one part will float and the other sink.” This film by Greek film maker, Yorgos Averogoulos, is a though provoking film bringing the viewer closer to the real and imminent threat of global warming.
“Life for Sale”
The film “Life for Sale” is a story of nation where private people own 95 per cent of the water sources. The film by Yorgos Avgeropoulos is set in Chile, where under the dictatorship of Pinochet, Freidman did a field trial of his free market theory, not stopping to even privatize water.
The film travels to the driest place on Earth, the Atacaman desert, where the only source of water for the indigenous people living there is the Rio Loa. With most of the water rights of the river sold by the people to mining companies in the desert, the locals are forced to buy water from tankers. In a region, where the cost of water rights for a one-liter/ second source can be as high as 2.5 million dollars, this has impoverished the people.
This eye opening film reveals many tragic facts, including the fact the present socialist government not having the votes to bring about the constitutional amendment required to make water a public commodity.
“H2Oil”
When Dr O’Connor reveals to the residents of Fort Chipewyan, Alberta-Canada, that the cancer rates in this 1200 strong community were higher than average, the residents blame pollution of Athabasca River by the Oil Sands Industry that supplies close to 20 per cent of US oil needs.
The film “H2Oil” by Shannon Walsh talks of the effect of the booming Oil Sands Industry in Alberta on the indigenous community of Fort Chipewyan. Where reports have show the Athabasca River having a higher concentration of Arsenic and Mercury – both know to cause cancer. A mineral water bottling company finds that its springs have dried up due to the vast volumes of water that is required to extract oil from sand.
The response from the big oil companies, “You do not trust us…we are speaking two different languages, how is it that we can speak the same language.” The language of the company and that of the Canadian government being appears to be the same though.
The film showcases the very strong citizen movement that has galvanized the community into action – and taken the fight to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.