\n\tZelniker explores this dire reality in his comprehensive documentary series The Struggle for Mother Water<\/a>, which was invited to take part in the Berlinale Series Market<\/a>, part of the EFM<\/a>. The Struggle for Mother Water is one of only three nonfiction series accorded that honor, joining The American Revolution<\/a>, the series by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, and Ger\u00e7ek \u015eaman\u0131n \u0130zinde (In Pursuit of the True Shaman), directed by Talha Berkay Ba\u015f.<\/p>\n \n\tFor the series, Zelniker spent the better part of a year traveling the globe to document the near impossibility for many people \u2013 particularly outside urban areas \u2013 to obtain potable water. In the Choriso District of South Ethiopia, for example, he finds people drawing water from a polluted rivulet.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe\u2019re collecting this water because this is all there is,\u201d a woman tells him. \u201cWe have no choice. Due to lack of clean water, we have been forced to fetch, to use, to drink this dirty, contaminated water.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tA woman carries a water jug in Sundarbans, India.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Filmoption<\/p>\n \n\tIn Darjeeling, West Bengal, India, trash clogs a source of drinking water. A man tells Zelniker, \u201cDuring heavy rain, a lot of filth gets into this source\u2026 We\u2019re uncertain of the quality of this water but we\u2019re still forced to drink it.\u201d Boiling water to reduce contaminants isn\u2019t a practical solution in places without consistent electricity. As a result, an untold number of people worldwide, including children, are dying from diseases transmitted through dirty water.<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s not only in the developing world where access to clean water has become immensely difficult. Zelniker visits the Athabasca River in the Fort McKay First Nation of Northern Alberta in Canada, speaking with First Nations environmentalist Jean L\u2019hommecourt. Tar sands oil refining in the area has polluted ground water, notes The Contrapuntal in a report that said in 2022, \u201ctoxic byproducts like iron, arsenic, naphthenic acids, sand, clay, residual bitumen, and various chemicals, spilled into the surrounding wetlands, poisoning the rivers on which Jean\u2019s and other native communities depend.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tJean L\u2019hommecourt interviewed by the Athabasca River in Northern Alberta, Canada.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Filmoption<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a crime against the environment. It\u2019s an environmental crime,\u201d L\u2019hommecourt tells Zelniker. \u201cIt angers me that we\u2019re second-class citizens in our own territory, in our own homelands.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tClimate change, industrial pollution, inadequate sanitation that pollutes drinking water sources with human waste \u2014 these are all factors in the water crisis. The 8-part series also explores the commodification of water, which has reaped billions of dollars for big companies while creating shortages for ordinary people.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tWomen fetch water in the Chaco Region of Paraguay.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Filmoption<\/p>\n \n\tIn the Vosges region of Northeastern France, known for its pristine mineral drinking water, Nestle has scooped up the resource and packaged it as Eau Vittel. Industrialists are \u201cplundering the water,\u201d a local woman tells the filmmaker. \u201cAnd so, there is a lack of water here and it shows everywhere. It can be seen in nature; it can be seen through the insects that are disappearing\u2026 There is no more work here because when there is no more water, there\u2019s no more employment, there\u2019s no more life.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s a similar situation in San Bernardino, California, the series says, where BlueTriton\/Primo Brands (which bought Nestle\u2019s North American water business) operates. The company is \u201cextracting water from water sources that we rely on, that we depend on for our own drinking water, for agriculture, for the various uses of water,\u201d Zelniker comments. \u201cThey\u2019re extracting water for almost no money \u2014 maybe a quarter-a-cent a gallon \u2014 and then selling it back to us for a huge, huge, huge profit.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tA boy waters a plant in Oaxaca, M\u00e9xico.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Filmoption<\/p>\n \n\tWorld Water Day, established over 30 years ago by the UN General Assembly, will be observed on March 22. The water crisis isn\u2019t gender neutral, the world organization affirms.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIn 53 countries with available data, women and girls spend 250 million hours per day on water collection \u2013 over three times more than men and boys,\u201d the UN writes on its website. \u201cThe global water crisis affects everyone \u2013 but not equally. Where people lack safe drinking water and sanitation close to home, inequalities flourish, with women and girls bearing the brunt. They collect water. They manage water. They care for people made sick by unsafe water. They lose time, health, safety, and opportunities\u2026 This makes the water crisis a women\u2019s crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe gender dimension to the crisis is reflected in Zelniker\u2019s approach to the series.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cPrimarily, it is women who are leading the fight to protect and defend water all over the world,\u201d he said at the Q&A. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why women voice probably 90 percent of our documentary.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tDirector Michael Zelniker shoots in Cameroon.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Filmoption<\/p>\n \n\tZelniker\u2019s directing credits include the 2022 documentary The Issue with Tissue \u2013 A Boreal Love Story. As part of his work to protect the environment, the Montreal native completed Climate Reality Project training with former Vice President Al Gore and became a member of the Climate Reality Project\u2019s Leadership Corps. At the Q&A, Zelniker shared his reaction to the Trump administration move last week rescinding a rule that provides the legal basis for the U.S. government to combat climate change.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMy response to the political leadership who are really in service of the industries that are profiting off of deregulation is what are you going to say to your children and grandchildren when they come to you and ask you, what were you thinking?\u201d he commented. \u201cBecause things are only going to get worse. And not only do we have an obligation to the generations to come to leave them a habitable planet, but what about our ancestors who left us this beautiful planet that we could thrive in? Do we have no sense of responsibility, no sense of obligation to them to thank them for what they did for us? So, I don\u2019t know how else to approach people who are driven by a profit motive that disregards anything other than the almighty dollar except to appeal to them on that level because their children and grandchildren are going to come to them too and ask them what were they thinking? As Don Henley said so well, \u2018There are no luggage racks on hearses.\u2019 We\u2019re not taking anything with us. And the only thing that really matters is the legacy we leave behind.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tZelniker sees the invitation to the Berlinale Series Market as a validation for The Struggle for Mother Water and its potential.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s really great encouragement for a project like this. The criteria of this particular segment, the Berlinale Series Market Selects program, is recognition of its commercial or market viability,\u201d Zelniker says. \u201cThis is encouraging because sometimes with subjects like this, we do find that people prefer to look the other way. And for me, knowing that whoever this jury, this committee was that selected these projects, feel that there is real market viability for it just says to me that we have an opportunity to get the message, the important message in our documentary seen and heard as far and wide as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe filmmaker added, \u201cSo, what are my hopes? That every major broadcaster, streaming service in the world sees this important message as something that they want to project. As James Baldwin said, \u2018Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced,\u2019 and they have the platforms where these important stories can be seen and heard by the wider community.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2010 the United Nations passed a resolution calling access to clean water a fundamental human right. It…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":601316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[28],"tags":[258983,246561,171,258984,53,258985,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-601315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-berlinale-series-market","tag-efm","tag-entertainment","tag-michael-zelniker","tag-movies","tag-the-struggle-for-mother-water","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116098015857565422","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-deadline-2019\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.jpg\")
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