In fact, these people often pay more than fellow citizens who are lucky or wealthy enough to have an official water point. Yet, when water makes the headlines, stories tend not focus on the lack of access to affordable, convenient, improved water sources.
On Monday 11 April, a panel of journalists and experts from a range of disciplines gathered to discuss how people working within the media can tell stories to effectively communicate the big issue of the global water shortage.
Before Mark Galloway, Director of the International Broadcasting Trust, led and moderated an interactive discussion on the global water shortage, the Frontline Club premiered four short documentaries which were produced as part of WaterAid and Public Media Alliance’s global sH2Orts film competition.
Introducing the films to the audience, Catherine Feltham, director and film producer from WaterAid, said, “using different styles, these winning films motivate different audiences to care, listen and think about the many different issues and problems for people within big topics like the global water crisis.”
Feltham invited the audience to choose and tweet their favourite films and provide brief reasons why:
@GaudyRebellion Wow! Who would have thought you could create artificial glaciers through insulating snow with blankets? #FutureofWater
— George Rosenfeld (@GeorgeRosenfeld) April 11, 2016
@milesbramdo #FutureofWater one of my favourites – a truly human story
— Beth B (@bethb88) April 11, 2016
@WaterAidUK@sampunglitro@GaudyRebellion@milesbramdo I really liked Blanketed Snows – fascinating ingenuity #FutureofWater
— Sven Harding (@Sven_Harding) April 11, 2016
- Giselle Santos, Automatic Tubig Machine (ATM)
- Vardan Hovhannisyan, Blanketed Snows
- Sven Harding, Place of Sweet Waters
- Ibrahim S Kamara, The Hoist
An audience member said that he valued how The Hoist addressed colonial history – and widespread ignorance of its damaging impact that continues to the present day.
Contrastingly, an independent film producer praised ATM for its simple technique of sticking a camera in front of a water tap and capturing the reaction. It also revealed the tap costs money, people clearly do not waste the resource and profits are plied back into the provision of water. “It was very simple, effective and engaging,” he added.
Menka Sanghvi, an innovation researcher and fund leader at the Humanitarian Innovation Fund, commented on Place of Sweet Waters: “It focused on exploring the problem, so people have an opportunity to get involved. There’s a tendency to tell stories about innovation, success, new technologies that might solve a problem because everyone loves a silver bullet. However, stories about problems are much harder to tell,” Sanghvi said.
Sarah Mosses, CEO of Together Films, commended The Hoist. “The main character Kadija looks at local solutions, she is an engineer at the young age of 19, she is a female innovator and designed the entire project herself. I feel extremely empowered!” Mosses said.
Bethlehem Mengistu, Regional Advocacy Manager and Acting Country Representative for WaterAid in Ethiopia, found it difficult to choose a favourite: “I am inspired that so many people from different walks of life are trying to find a solution. This is extremely important for collaboration.”
“The ATM was particularly insightful because the tap itself became a character and explored the social dynamics of tap water. This film neatly captured the different stakeholders needed to provide sustainable water access.”
Beautiful films @WaterAidUK‘s #FutureofWater event @frontlineclub. Need for human side to impactful films made clear pic.twitter.com/xLOQFvqLlg
— Miles Bell (@smilesbells) April 11, 2016
Journalist, broadcaster and author Alok Jah enjoyed the ATM film because it was very peaceful.
“It was almost like a ‘Gogglebox’ of water development. I could watch it for hours, and imagine other people would want to also. This is a nice bit of journalism, the other films are very good campaigns,” Jah said.
Curious to find out how films can successfully engage audiences, Galloway asked the panel what filmmakers need to do to create successful impact films like those that premiered.
Mosses pleaded with filmmakers to not allow their policy team to write the script. “There needs to be a middle line between a piece directed towards policy change and a piece for the mass public. Films for policy change will have more statistics and be factual, whilst a public piece will be more empathetic,” she said.
An audience member countered this point: “The success of a film depends on the anger, drive and passion of the filmmaker to make a change within that subject.”
Jah said: “Journalists are obsessed with things that explode or politicians talking about themselves. The stuff in the middle – everyday life – is ignored because we think no one is interested. Of course it’s harder to make people interested, but that’s what you have to do as a journalist, you have to earn your audience,” Jah said.
“Economics, politics and sustainability can be used as angles to explore ongoing political tensions, particularly in the Middle East where resource wars have secretly initiated current conflict. This will then shed light on other resource issues,” Jah added.
Agreeing with Jah, Mengitsu said concepts need to be translated into something very simple, to leave audiences with a sense of urgency. “In Ethiopia, 58% of the population have access to water, but more needs to be done. Journalists see water stories involving money as newsworthy, such as hydropower. But a lack of water supply or infrastructure is ‘old news’. I really do urge non-traditional actors such as scientists to get involved and demonstrate research to find new solutions.”
To frame the water crisis and its future for a particular audience, the panellists agreed the length and message of the film needs to be carefully thought about, even though there is “no magic formula” as Mosses pointed out.
]]>The future of water isn’t a simple topic – it is vast and can often be overwhelming. During the discussion we will explore how this topic can be made accessible through the power of storytelling and film.
We will premiere four short documentaries which were produced as part of the global sH2Orts film competition, organised by WaterAid in partnership with the Public Media Alliance’s WorldView project. Each film offers a unique insight into the global water crisis and urges us to think about how we can respond to it.
The discussion which follows will focus on climate change, innovation, urbanisation and inequality – and how they relate to the global water crisis.
Panelists
Mark Galloway, Director of International Broadcasting Trust (Moderator)
Before joining IBT, Mark worked as a journalist, current affairs producer and documentary filmmaker. He’s been a Channel 4 Commissioning Editor, responsible for Education and Features, and has made films for ITV, Channel 4, the BBC, Discovery and Al Jazeera, winning more than a dozen national and international awards including a Gold Medal at the New York Film Festival, a Peabody Award and a BAFTA. At IBT, Mark is responsible for the day to day running of the organization, overall strategy, research and relations with IBT’s members.
Alok Jha is a journalist, broadcaster and author of The Water Book. He is the science correspondent at ITV News. Before that, he spent a decade at the Guardian and made programmes for the BBC.
Bethlehem Mengistu has over 12 years experience in the development sector, with special focus on gender equality, human rights, good governance and provision of basic services. She has worked within senior roles for organizations such as WaterAid, Care International, Action Aid and notable grassroots women’s organizations in East Africa. Bethlehem has solid experience in programme management, strategic campaigning and advocacy and policy analysis. Her educational background is in Law and Sociology and is currently working at WaterAid as Regional Advocacy Manager for East Africa and Acting Country Representative for WaterAid in Ethiopia.
Menka Sanghvi is an innovation researcher and facilitator focusing on global health and wellbeing. At the Humanitarian Innovation Fund she leads a dedicated fund to improve water, sanitation and hygiene conditions for vulnerable communities. In her role she supports a wide range of project teams in building ideas, testing them out, and scaling to achieve better impact. Menka brings over a decade of experience in delivering innovation projects with organisations such as Oxfam, Unilever, Barclays Bank, Impact Hub, and with local communities. She serves as a mentor for the Global Sustainability Jam, and a judge for the UNDP Equator Prize.
Sarah Mosses is CEO of Together Films, a new consultancy working with social issue film content to reach new audiences. She helps filmmakers craft Impact Distribution Campaigns to increase both their social impact, audience reach and revenue potential. As an award winning Producer, Sarah’s debut feature documentary They Will Have To Kill Us First had its World Premiere at SXSW 2015 and European Premiere at London Film Festival 2015. Sarah is a mentor for Documentary Campus, Eso Doc, Sheffield DocFest, On Screen Manitoba, working with emerging producers to enhance their film narrative and distribution/marketing potential.
Film lineup:
PLACE OF SWEET WATERS
Directed by: Sven Harding
2015/South Africa
www.svenharding.com
Place of Sweet Waters will take us to the underground tunnels which run beneath the city of Cape Town, transporting millions of litres of water from Table Mountain directly into the sea. As South Africa grapples with its worst drought in more than 30 years, the film raises questions about why this urban water source is being ‘wasted’.
BLANKETED SNOWS
Directed by: Vardan Hovhannisyan
2015/Armenia
caucadoconline.com/projects/author/25
Filmed in a stunning mountain region of Armenia, Blanketed Snows will encourage the panel to think about how climate change affects water supplies and livelihoods, and how the two are inextricably linked.
AUTOMATIC TUBIG MACHINE
Directed by: Giselle Santos
2015/Philippines
twitter.com/sampunglitro
Automatic Tubig Machine is a fly-on-the-wall documentary about remote communities in the Philippines who are using an innovative water supply technology. During this observational film we are offered a unique and fascinating insight into how children and adults gain access to this vital resource.
THE HOIST
Directed by: Ibrahim S Kamara
2015/Sierra Leone
http://www.wateraid.org/film-competition/sh2orts2016/winners
Set in Sierra Leone, The Hoist looks at the ingenuity of a local young woman who wants to simplify the time-consuming and physical task of collecting water. The film raises questions about the role new technology and innovation can play in the face of the global water crisis.
