Documentary Film Series: “Water: The Language of Nature”

Meeting the Hon. Mikhail Gorbahev's call to "better reflect the nature of water itself" and to develop from this new water management strategies.

Mr. Gorbachev, head of The Green Cross International, expressed this sentiment in a report titled "National Sovereignty and International Water Courses":

“ We believe that cooperation between two or more countries is easier to start on the basis of quality issues (pollution control and ecosystem protection) than quantity issues (allocation of waters). Rigid interpretations of sovereignty over water contradict the very nature of water itself. Water flows across and underneath international boundaries and sustains entire ecosystems, whose borders do not conform to the political lines we humans have drawn on map. This is clearly a matter which involves considerations of social security, human rights, political and public will, minorities, gender, culture and the environment, and calls for a change in the way we value and treat water.”

In another section of the Green Cross report, the following statement appears:

“ A sustainable water vision requires the adaptation of a more long-term, ecosystem outlook and the making of decisions by representatives of stakeholders from all basin (watershed) states to better reflect the nature of water itself.”

“Water: The Language of Nature”
a series of four documentary films is being deveoped to meet this demand.

The four one-hour films will describe the inherent qualities of water, including its relationship to the individual, the global ecosystem, the politics of water, and water’s fragility. The series’ main objective is to raise awareness and understanding about water’s positive behavior and the ways in which it serves life. The films are envisioned as a rare combination of beauty and science that draw their audiences to a deep understanding of water’s awe inspiring abilities to serve, without prejudice, all life forms.

Content of the Films

The four films will cover:

1. "The Hidden Nature of Water”: The unusual and surprising ways water serves life can be seen in its phenomena, behavior, and movement.
   
2. "Water’s Many Faces”: We see water in its universality as: rivers, streams, lakes, springs, clouds, ice and snow, rain, dew. Connected through many cycles great and small, the earth is kept as a place for life through water. Cultures arise and each knows this life substance in their own way.
   
3. “Profaned Waters: Loss of understanding”: The effects of management practices on water resulting from an incomplete understanding of its nature.
   
4. “The Quest for Understanding, The Search for Solutions”: The stories of those who understand water and the conditions it needs to serve the environment and the human world.

As with Joseph Campbell’s "The Hero of a Thousand Faces," water through its archetypes will reveal its wisdom. The films are presented in a story format and will appeal to policy makers, educators, environmentalists, and television audiences of all ages. They will be educational, fascinating, and surprising. Because of the importance of the theme, the films will be translated into ten languages.

The achievement of these films is that they describe the positive qualities of water. By illuminating water’s behavior, the films will show how and why water works as a purveyor of life, and how fragile and sensitive it is.

At the Second World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference held in The Hague in March, 2000, Mikhail Gorbachev reminded us that we must manage water “according to its own nature” with management strategies that “do not contradict the very nature of water itself.” This and other presentations at the Forum made it clear to us that there is a need for wider public understanding of the role water plays in keeping the earth as a place for life.

This understanding would support government’s ability at all levels to form appropriate water policy to address the challenges of a right orientation to and use of water on earth.

The Water Research Institute of Blue Hill is developing this film series in direct response to that need. It highlights the need for developing a new consciousness of water that has been presented by the Institute for Flow Sciences.

If you are interested in our full Film proposal, please contact us via email and tell us what your interests are.