Documents the opposition from both sides of the political spectrum to the ubiquitous practice of fracking for natural gas, and the health and environmental reasons behind it.
GROUNDSWELL RISING gives voice to ordinary folks engaged in a David and Goliath struggle against Big Oil and Gas. We meet parents, scientists, doctors, farmers and individuals across the political spectrum decrying the energy extraction process known as fracking that puts profits over people. This provocative documentary tracks a grassroots movement exposing dangers to clean air, water, and civil rights.
GROUNDSWELL RISING shows how fracking has contaminated drinking water and jeopardized health and quality of life. Homeowners near wells suffer from respiratory ailments and property devaluation. Reina Ripple, of Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project, chronicles mounting ailments related to fracking. A former industry employee shows skin lesions and edema obtained while working with fracking waste.
Grassroots efforts have achieved bans, moratoriums, and referendums on fracking. Stanford University Professor Mark Jacobson paves the way forward globally with his Solutions Project for 100% renewable energy. Transcending the genre of environmental film, GROUNDSWELL's passionate stories inspire and empower.
Reviews
"Should be watched by everyone on the side of industry and those considering leasing their land to the gas companies." - Mark Ruffalo, Actor, Activist
"Will get your blood going and your mind racing about how we can pull together to defend our communities from gas drilling and its crushing infrastructure." - Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director, Delaware Riverkeeper Network
"This is a powerful film. Industry propaganda continually dismisses these people. They are invisible and this film helps us see them." - New York Assemblywoman, Barbara Lifton
Directed by Francine Strickwerda and Laurel Spellman Smith
Two boys come of age looking for solutions to the global problem of reckless oil drilling following years of oil contamination in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
OIL & WATER is the coming of age story of two boys as they each confront one of the world's worst toxic disasters, the prolonged contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon by Texaco and other oil companies. Hugo comes to America to fight for the survival of his tribe, the Cofan, while David goes to Ecuador to launch the world's first company to certify oil as "fair trade." Can Hugo become the leader his tribe so desperately wants him to be? Will David clean up one of the world's dirtiest industries?
This film is an intimate portrait of two young people finding their voices and trying to beat incredible odds. Their journeys lead them to explore what could be a more just future, not just for the people of the Amazon, but for all people around the world born with oil beneath their feet. Eight years in the making OIL & WATER is a shocking and inspiring David and Goliath story.
Reviews
"Great film...arresting...the most complete portrait of how societies might move beyond 'the oil curse.'" - Dr. Brian Black, Professor, History and Environmental Studies, Penn State Altoona
"This a moving and thought-provoking story that opens up avenues of hope in a challenging reality." - Patricia I. Vasquez, Independent Consultant on Extractive Industries and Conflicts, Author, Oil Sparks in the Amazon: Local Conflicts, Indigenous Populations, and Natural Resource
"A powerful and appealing documentary film...The connection between Hugo and David takes the documentary into a personal life that is fascinating in its portrayal of the Cofan culture and environment." - Floyd McKay, Crosscut
Award
Green Planet Award, Grand Prize, Rhode Island International Film Festival
Narrated by Martin Sheen, One Water is a film that celebrates all the different ways water has touched human lives around the globe and explores our changing relationship to water as it grows ever more alarmingly scarce. The film leaves audiences with a series of provocative questions that culminate in one that will impact all of our futures: is water a human right or a commodity? Through a starkly emotional journey, the audience is invited to bear witness and encouraged to recognize this major global crisis at his or her very own.
The film highlights a world where water is exquisitely abundant in some places and dangerously lacking in others. Taps flowing with fresh, clean water are contrasted with toxic, polluted waterways that have turned the blue arteries of our planet murky.
Change is a constant of life. The natural cycles that balance and regulate our Earth and atmosphere provide the necessary conditions for sustaining a diverse range of life forms on the planet. But what actually occurs in these cycles? The Cycles Collection looks at the critical role the carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous and water cycles play in the life of plants, animals, bacteria and our planet. This motion-graphics driven program simply yet clearly explains the key stages and processes o f each cycle and why the cycles are so important to all life on our planet. An ideal resource for viewers seeking a scientific understanding of these cycles.
Please contact us for primary and secondary schools pricing.
Note : The above titles may have some territorial restrictions. Please feel free to send us an enquiry.
The Emmy Award-winning Troubled Waters: A Mississippi River Story tells the story of the unintended yet severe consequences of farming along the Mississippi, and the efforts being taken to reverse this damage. America's heartland boasts some of the world's most productive farmland, but this bounty has come with a price. Excess crop fertilizers are contaminating the nation's rivers, lakes and aquifers, while at the same time precious soil is washing away.
The film traces the development of America's bountiful harvest and examines its effect on the legendary river, as well as the "dead zone" created in the Gulf of Mexico. Knitting together federal energy, farm and environmental policies, the film makes a compelling case for revamping US agricultural policy and practices. It also helps viewers to grasp a profound truth ¡V that a single drop of water in the upper Midwest has an impact far downstream.
Through beautiful photography and narrative, Troubled Waters emphasizes solutions, providing a hopeful blueprint for progress and positive change. The film tells the stories of farmers, scientists and citizens who are pursuing more sustainable land-use practices that meet the goals of an ambitious, food-producing nation, while ensuring the long-term health of its most precious natural resources.
Reviews
"...Troubled Waters puts a much-needed spotlight on Mississippi River pollution and the threat posed by high sediment levels ..." - Star & Tribune
"Troubled Waters invites us to have an open, honest discussion about the challenges of cleaning up the Mississippi River." - Whitney L. Clark Friends of the Mississippi River
Award
Winner of Three Emmys, Including Best Topical Documentary
Water is a unique chemical. Without it, life as we know it cannot exist. It exists in all three phases naturally on Earth. At first glance, the chemistry of water appears a very simple, but it has some remarkable and unique properties, because of its molecular structure and composition. This excellent production examines some of water's important chemical properties, including its polarity and the strength of bonds between water molecules, dispersion forces, heat capacity and its ability to self-ionise. Sections are titled: water, a unique chemical; the three states of being; the nearly universal solvent; and water and chemical reactions. It is an ideal learning resource for senior secondary level students of Chemistry, with high quality imagery used to explain complex principles.
Please contact us for primary and secondary schools pricing.
Note : The above titles may have some territorial restrictions. Please feel free to send us an enquiry.
Breathtaking photography tells the story of the Colorado River, which flowed to the sea for 6 million years and now dries up 90 miles short of the Sea of Cortez.
After spending a decade working abroad as a photojournalist, Colorado native Pete McBride, decided to focus on something closer to his home and his heart: the Colorado River which cuts through his backyard. Taking nearly three years, McBride followed the river source to sea on a personal journey to see exactly where the river goes and what becomes of the irrigation water that flows across his family's cattle ranch in central Colorado after it returns to the creek.
Recruiting hisfather, John, as his personal pilot McBride chose an aerial vantage to capture a unique and fresh view of the Colorado River Basin. He also partnered with Jon Waterman, an author who stayed stream level to paddle the entire length of the river.
This short film takes the viewer on a 1,500 mile adventure downstream, from mountains and cities and through canyons and across shrinking reservoirs. For 6 million years the Colorado River flowed to the sea. Today it runs dry some 90 miles shy of its historic terminus at the Sea of Cortez.
This visual journey is both revealing and alarming as it highlights the state of the river and the Southwest's drying future.
Featuring the photography of Pete McBride and music by Explosions In The Sky, This Will Destroy You, Jesse Cook, and Ludovico Einaudi.
Review
"Stunningly beautiful and hauntingly disturbing...a testament to our unquenchable thirst." - Dr. J. Val Klump, Assoc. Dean for Research, Great Lakes WATER Institute
Awards
Best Short Mountain Film, Banff Mountain Film Festival
Most Inspiring Story, 5Point Film Festival
Best Environmental Documentary, Mountainfilm Festival, Telluride
Water for All Award, CMS Vatavaran Film Festival, Delhi
Best Documentary, Clearwater Film Festival
Audience Award, Short Film, EcoFocus Film Festival, Athens, GA
Best Environmental Film, Frozen Film Festival, San Francisco
Best Cinematography & Best of Category, Montana CINE International Film Festival
Best Land to Sea Film, Waimea Ocean Film Festival
Best Environmental Documentary, Mountain Film Awards, Mammoth, CA
Adventure through Activism Award, Adventure Film Festival, Boulder
While some regions of the world enjoy an abundance of water, one billion people live in areas struggling with drought and drinking water contamination. By 2025, two-thirds of the world's population is expected to face a water shortage. This episode profiles water purification and conservation projects throughout the world, which aim to reduce the environmental and economic threats of a future where water is a scarce commodity.
Tells the incredible story of the Tar Creek Superfund site in NE Oklahoma and the massive and deadly remains left by the lead and zinc mines there.
TAR CREEK is the story of the worst environmental disaster you've never heard of: the Tar Creek Superfund site. Once one of the largest lead and zinc mines on the planet, Tar Creek is now home to more than 40 square miles of environmental devastation in northeastern Oklahoma: acid mine water in the creeks, stratospheric lead poisoning in the children, and sinkholes that melt backyards and ball fields.
Now, almost 30 years after being designated for federal cleanup by the Superfund program, Tar Creek residents are still fighting for decontamination, environmental justice, and ultimately, the buyout and relocation of their homes to safer ground. As TAR CREEK reveals, America's Superfund sites aren't just environmental wastelands; they're community tragedies, too...until the community fights back.
Reviews
"A complete revelation, a much richer and more tragic story than I had ever been aware of." - Christopher H. Foreman, Jr., Director, Social Policy Program, University of Maryland
Awards
Best Feature Documentary, Nickel Independent Film Festival
Director's Choice & Audience Choice, Southern Winds Film Festival
Narrated by Wade Davis, Explorer in Residence for National Geographic
Canada is the number one foreign supplier of oil to the United States, a fact little known in America. Most of the oil imported comes from the Tar Sands of Northern Alberta, the second largest known oil reserve in the world outside of Saudi Arabia.
But this is not a traditional oil field. The oil must be extracted and processed from the sands at a significant environmental cost -- requiring huge quantities of a diminishing fresh water supply and large amounts of energy that contribute to global warming.
White Water, Black Gold follows David Lavallee on his three-year journey across Western Canada in search of the truth about the impact of the world's thirstiest oil industry. This is a journey of jarring contrasts, from the pristine mountain ice fields that are the source of the industry's water, to the Tar Sands tailing ponds, where thousands of migrating birds have unwittingly landed and died.
Both government and industry spokespeople deny any cause for concern, but in the course of his journey Lavallee, backed by university scientists, makes a number of discoveries that challenge that assessment and raise serious concerns for Canada and the United States.
Native peoples living downstream are contracting unusual cancers; new science shows that water resources in an era of climate change will be increasingly scarce; the proposed upgrading of the oilfields could endanger multiple river systems across Canada that makeup about half of its water supply; and a planned oil pipeline across British Columbia brings fresh threats to rivers, salmon and the Pacific Ocean.
White Water, Black Gold is a sober look at the untold costs associated with developing this major oil deposit, and raises important questions about how much environmental damage we're willing to tolerate to feed our oil appetite.
Review
"Highlights the indescribable beauty of the region and how it is being threatened by industry and carelessness." - Earth Times
Award
Winner, 2011 John Muir Award, Yosemite Film Festival
This program focuses on the protection of Puget Sound - a national ecological treasure - through the efforts of Washington's Office of Shellfish and Water Protection (Health Science Cluster); a TV station that raises environmental awareness by reporting on the Sound (Arts, A/V Technology, and Communications Cluster); a nonprofit organization that educates the public about the Sound's ecosystem (Education and Training Cluster); and a local shellfish farm that sustainably harvests oysters (Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Cluster).
Investigates how the exploitation of Southern Louisiana's abundant natural resources compromised the resiliency of its ecology and culture, multiplying the devastating impact of the BP oil spill and Hurricane Katrina.
Everywhere you look in Southern Louisiana there's water: rivers, bayous, swamps, the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico. And everyone in Cajun Country has a water story, or two or three or more. Its waterways support the biggest economies in Louisiana - a $70 billion a year oil and gas industry, a $2.4 billion a year fishing business, tourism and recreational sports.
They are also home to some insidious polluters: the same oil and gas industry, 200 petrochemical plants along a 100-mile-long stretch of the Mississippi known "Cancer Alley," the world's largest Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico and erosion that is costing the coastline twenty five square miles of wetlands a year. At the same time, SoLa is home to one of America's most vital and unique cultures; if everyone who lives there has a water story they can also most likely play the fiddle, waltz, cook an etoufee and hunt and fish.
Reviews
"A great crash course that deftly addresses the ecological, economic and social issues facing Louisiana." - David Burley, Asst. Professor of Sociology, Southeastern Louisiana University
"This is a superb treatment of how the oil and gas industry threatens not just a way of life in southern Louisiana but life itself. Water is the centerpiece of cultural and ecological health in and around New Orleans and it is being ruined, slowly, by neglect and greed. SoLa should be a wakeup call for the country." - Lee Clarke, Professor, Department of Sociology, Rutgers University, Author, Worst Cases: Terror and Catastrophe in the Popular Imagination
"SoLa is a beautifully filmed and moving story about a way of life that is threatened. Its relevance, from an educational perspective, is with the rapidly growing field of environmental studies which, more than many of our traditional disciplines, put humans in the ecosystems and in environmental change...An excellent overview." - Dr. Robert Gramling, Professor of Sociology, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Author, Oil on the Edge: Offshore Development, Conflict, Gridlock, co-Author, Blowout in the Gulf: The BP Oil Spill Disaster and the Future of Energy in America
An intimate portrait of international water activist Maude Barlow and the debate over whether water is a commercial good or a human right.
WATER ON THE TABLE features Maude Barlow, who is considered an "international water-warrior" for her crusade to have water declared a human right. "Water must be declared a public trust and a human right that belongs to the people, the ecosystem and the future, and preserved for all time and practice in law. Clean water must be delivered as a public service, not a profitable commodity."
The film intimately captures the public face of Maude Barlow as well as the unscripted woman behind the scenes. The camera shadows her life on the road in Canada -- including an eye-opening visit to Alberta's tar sands -- and the United States over the course of a year as she serves as the UN Senior Advisor on Water to Fr. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, President of the 63rd Session of the United Nations.
More than a portrait of an activist, WATER ON THE TABLE presents several dramatic opposing arguments. Barlow's critics are policy and economic experts who argue water is no different than any other resource, and that the best way to protect freshwater is to privatize it. It is proposed that Canada bulk-export its water to the United States in the face of an imminent water crisis.
Reviews
"Water is life. It's not like a debate about running shoes or oil. It's a debate about life. We all need water to survive." - Toronto Magazine
"Marshall has captured an unforgettable portrait of a woman on a mission and created an alarming documentary that will make you want to get up and do something about the water crisis." - Ryerson Free Press
"A documentary that's pointed but visually sumptuous and poetic." - The Globe and Mail
Award
Best Canadian Feature Film, Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival
With the arrival of winter, the landscape becomes a frozen desert. Among the animals, fashion turns white and any refuge serves against the low temperatures. The apparent outside calm clashes with life under the ice, the best isolation.
DVD (With English & Chinese Subtitles) / 2009 / 30 minutes
Man has designed mechanisms to supply himself with water when it is scarce. They are wells, which, with the passing of time have been inhabited by plants and animals. They form a strange ecosystem where birds nest and fish and mammals are bred.
DVD (With English & Chinese Subtitles) / 2009 / 30 minutes
A layer of vapour surrounds the whole planet. This fine layer of air is slowed down by the chains of mountains, impassable barriers where the water condenses and chills until it comes down in the form of rain or snow. Discover what animals live on the mountain tops and how they compete with one another for food.
DVD (With English & Chinese Subtitles) / 2009 / 30 minutes
Collaborators: Dr. Ernest Fish and Dr. Ron Sosebee
Water is one of the most precious commodities on earth. Without it, life as we know it would not exist. In this presentation, the different properties of water will be reviewed as well as the different ways in which water is used in our daily lives. In addition, the importance of conserving our water resources and the future of our water supply will be discussed. Water quality as well as various types and causes of water pollution are covered in detail.
Management of the world's fresh water supply will determine global political stability and economic development. Many countries will experience internal conflicts over rights to water. There is enough water for everyone in the world, however, the question is who should pay for it, how much it should cost, and who should receive it. For the first time in history, the majority of the world's population lives in cities, and supplying these cities with sufficient water will be a difficult task that has the potential to cause many social conflicts. This struggle for control of water has led to riots in many areas of the world including South Africa and Spain where water-rich regions hold power over water deficient regions. Disputes over water are also disputes between countries. This is taking place between the ten countries that share the Nile River Basin in Africa. In Asia, the fight over control of its large rivers is a struggle of life and death and will have enormous consequences for billions of people.
Climate change will greatly affect the world's water supply and societies in the future. We live in an age of climatic uncertainty and the future of the world's water supply will dominate political life and have enormous consequences for economies and cultures. Travel to Mali where lakes form and dry up each year and see how they confront the ever changing climactic conditions. Droughts or floods can be fatal to millions of people around in the world in poor countries. Uncertainty with water conditions will also pose new challenges to the world's most advanced societies. These challenges will affect international relations, migration patterns, and democratic systems all over the world. World renowned glaciologists speak about the drastic changes that are occurring in Asia and Europe due to glacier melting. Learn about the global consequences if Greenland's icecaps melt.
The uncertainty of climate change and the increasing need for water is bringing a renaissance of large new water transfer methods. Throughout history, transferring water has been vital to building civilizations. Travel to the Sahara desert and learn how Egypt's leaders envision creating huge towns and large areas of cultivated land by pumping in water from an artificial Nile lake to irrigate the desert. Examine Russia's plan to build canals for water transport to several countries in central Asia, which lack water. Travel to South America and see a complex hydrological system that guarantees Brazil and Argentina a sure source of water for the future. Scientists are studying ways to locate underground water deposits and transport this water to populated areas that lack water. Travel to Iceland and learn how they are using buses that are fueled by water.
River health is an issue of concern for all of us. The quantity and quality of the water flowing through them has been affected by a range of human activities. This beautifully-filmed program examines our impacts on rivers, river management and ways of assessing river health. It also looks at the potential conflicts between users of our rivers and the need for sustainable and practical management strategies to be implemented. This thought-provoking program will act as a conversation-starter for students everywhere.
Please contact us for primary and secondary schools pricing.
Note : The above titles may have some territorial restrictions. Please feel free to send us an enquiry.
Why do some rivers run straight while others twist and bend? What causes ocean waves? What is a glacier made of? Dive in with the as we discuss the role of water in geology.
From the creators of the award-winning film Fire on the Mountain. Depending on whom you ask, the United States has between 75,000 and 2,500,000 dams. Many have outlived their usefulness.
This film takes a personal, passionate, and controversial look at dams, where commerce is served but nature destroyed. Blending still photos with archival and new footage, the film considers environmental, cultural, economic, and spiritual arguments for and against decommissioning dams, arguing that dams divorce a river from its eco-system, thereby destroying biodiversity and the river's habitat.
Compelling and informative, the film's voices come from a cross section of people intimately involved with dam and river issues, many of whom you will recognize. Featuring legendary conservationist David Brower, Former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbit, and well-known Glen Canyon performer and activist Katie Lee, this film raises the question of how much economic value we should extract from our rivers before we've given up too much of the earth's wild beauty. Featuring music by Don Henley.
Review
"This film opens up a brand new chapter on conservation history: eradicating the mistakes that we have made. The film, through poetry, prose and site specific arguments, awakens people to the possibility of the act of restoration and envisioning something that once was." - Bruce Babbit, Former Secretary of the Interior
Awards
Platinum Award in Nature & Wildlife, Worldfest International Film Festival
Best Documentary, Crested Butte Reel Fest
Best Conservation Film, Telluride Mountainfilm Festival
First Prize, Earthvision Environmental Film Festival
A region's rivers are really biological ribbons crisscrossing the land. When humans enter and alter a watershed, they alter these ribbons of life. Fresh Waters Flowing explores the connection between humans and rivers. It reveals the links between human influences and the ability of a river to support healthy living communities.
Featuring James Karr of the University of Washington and Charley Dewberry of Pacific Rivers Council, Fresh Waters Flowing shows how important biological integrity is for rivers and demonstrates how measuring biological condition with the index of biological integrity (IBI) can be a powerful tool for maintaining and restoring the health of watersheds. Biological Monitoring Protocol introduces the index of biological integrity (IBI), the best yardstick for measuring the health of rivers and streams. Measuring pollutants, such as temperature, phosphorus, or toxic chemicals, may tell you if a river is clean, but only a direct biological yardstick like IBI will tell you if a river is healthy.
IBI has now been adopted to monitor rivers on all continents except Antarctica, by states including Ohio, Vermont, and Florida, and by regional and local organizations nationwide. This program shows you the equipment and techniques you need to use this biological yardstick. This series introduces important science concepts and is appropriate for courses in natural science, environmental science, biology, and water quality at the high school and university levels.
Review
"A terrific introduction to stream ecology. This film leaves the viewer with a clear understanding of the interrelationship between underwater insects, fish, and people." -Tom Murdoch, Director, Adopt-A-Stream Foundation
CHINA: The 3 Gorges Dam - will be the largest in the world. It will involve the forced relocation of over 1 million people, and the destruction of hundreds of cultural artefacts and heritage sites. ISRAEL: water conflict - the situation between Israel and Jordan, conservation strategies employed in an arid land. AUSTRALIA - a unique wastewater treatment project poses one solution. Can we feed the world's growing population without irrigation?
Please contact us for primary and secondary schools pricing.
Note : The above titles may have some territorial restrictions. Please feel free to send us an enquiry.
A unique blend of poetry and science that sees the wonder of the four primeval elements in new ways. Ways that highlight both science and poetry. A good example of a blend of science and the humanities to encourage creative thinking.
Growing public awareness and concern for controlling water pollution led to enactment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. As amended in 1977, this law became commonly known as the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the cornerstone of surface water quality protection in the United States.
Topics included in this safety video are: stormwater runoff, combined sewer overflows (CSOS), corporate agriculture, some say the situation is critical, and basics of Clean Water Act.
The U.S. needs more than 340 billion gallons of fresh water every day, but industrial effluent, agricultural runoff, and municipal discharge are contributing to an ongoing decline in water quality. In this program, Marty Tittelbaum, of the University of New Orleans; a water quality consultant; an environmental attorney; teachers; and many others address public health concerns, the need for stricter process controls, and broader enforcement of the Clean Water Act, while emphasizing the importance of information-sharing, educational outreach, and grassroots involvement in citizen action groups and environmental restoration projects.
Water pollution is devastating to aquatic environments and aquatic life. This presentation discusses the physical and chemical properties of water and analyzes factors which affect its quality, such as weather, biomass, soil, chemicals and frequency and amount of fish food provided. The importance of mechanical and biological filtration and different devices, such as pumps, water pipes and quarantine tanks, used in completing this task are also explored. Water quality measurement categories (i.e., biological, physical, chemical and aesthetic) are introduced, as well.