2004 Water Justice Film Festival

Event summaries from Globalization Week Spring 2004

Wednesday, April 21, 1:00 pm

Devastating Delicacies—Public Citizen's Food Program
International lending institutions such as the World Bank promote the environmentally, socially, and economically devastating practice of shrimp aquaculture—the factory farming of shrimp.

Public Citizen, 1600 20th Street, NW, corner of Q and 20th Streets.

Wednesday, April 21, 7:30 pm

Attacking the Commons—Tom Jackson—2004
In Nicaragua, people are overwhelmingly opposed to water "privatization". Yet the World Bank and IMF continue to pressure the Nicaraguan government to hand over this most precious resource to corporations. If the broken promises of better water quality, access and affordability in other countries which have privatized are not enough evidence, what of the failures that have already taken place after privatizing other Nicaraguan utilities?

The Water Is Ours, Damn it!—Sheila Franklin and Ravi Khanna—2000
Through interviews and riveting footage of street battles that took place between November 1999 and April of 2000, people of Cochabamba tell the story of how they were able to take back control of their water—forcing the government of Bolivia to nullify the contract that sold the city's water to the U.S. based Bechtel Corporation.

Jack Morton Auditorium, George Washington University. 805 21st Street, NW, corner of 21st and H Streets.
For further information contact John Lewis, Chair of Earth and Environmental Sciences, jlewis@gwu.edu

Thursday, April 22, 7:30 pm

Water Wars: Struggle in the Holy Land—Iain Taylor—1997
Could the war of the next century be over water rather than oil or politics? Demand for this most basic of resources is outstripping supply in some parts of the world and it is in these areas that the seeds of future wars have already been sown. Struggle in the Holy Land focuses on the apparent water inequalities between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the West Bank and Gaza.

Thirsting for War—Christopher Mitchell
Water, one of life's necessities, is becoming a source of conflict on a global scale, much like oil. This film takes a comprehensive look at the struggle for control of water in the Middle East, specifically in Turkey, Syria and Iraq.

Saturday, April 24, 7:00 pm

The Never Never Water—Alessandra Speciale—2002
The "water lords" have arrived in the Sahel as well. In Ougadougou, Burkina Faso, the search for water has always been an exhausting chore. In addition to the shortage of water there is now also the threat of privatization. In this period of drought, people crowd around the wells, waiting hours to fill a few buckets. Midway between reportage and narrative story-telling, this documentary tells the story of Moussa, an itinerant water seller in the suburbs of the capital. It is a mesmerizing and paced tale of water justice at a very personal level.

Carnegie Institution, 1530 P Street NW, corner of 16th and P Streets.
To be preceded by a reception in honor of Rudolf Amenga-Etego.

Tuesday, April 27, 7:00 pm

Thirst—Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman—2004
This excellent new film elucidates the inherent drama of communities fighting for control of their water. Thirst examines communities in Bolivia, India and Stockton, California, facing contentious issues surrounding the privatization of water, and skillfully places the debate in the context of the 2003 World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan. Activists claim that water is a human right, whereas corporations declare it a commodity.

Visions Cinema, 1927 Florida Ave, NW (www.visionsdc.com)

Brought to you by Public Citizen, the Earth Day Network, and the George Washington University.
www.wateractivist.org