Taryn Gregory
FLOW is a documentary that discusses the world-wide water shortage, its different sources, the privatization of water, and possible keys and hopes for the future. At the Angelika Film Center on September 14 at the 3pm screening, there was a presentation of the film followed by a short panel discussion that invited questions, continued several trains of thought from the movie, and discussed ways to help. The panel was lead by Leslie Lowe from the ICCR, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. The film, and panel discussion, set out to inform the uneducated public and therefore had both a tone of activism and education.
The event began with a brief introduction of what the film was about followed by a showing of the film itself. At the conclusion of the film, Leslie Lowe, along with the theatre staff, sat at a small table in the front of the screen and initiated a discussion of the film. First, she asked if we liked the film and we had any questions or comments. Although the audience was small, it was a good mixture of people; I was the youngest with a few middle-aged and elderly people as well. Everyone liked the film, however quite a few of us disliked the very focused bias in the film, specifically in relation to the large water corporations. As that was the main focus of what she wanted to talk about, Leslie went into the finer details discussed in the film, showing why it is so easy to be angry with companies like Vivendi and how her company attempts to educate both businesses and consumers of what is right and wrong, mostly in the context of faith. This discussion lasted until we broke, after which a few audience members went outside to continue discussion of what we could do to help and what we specifically saw that helped illuminate the points shown in the film, like the severe water shortage of LA, or the availability of clean drinking water from the faucets in New York City.
The event itself was a new experience for me. Although I come from a place where water is precious and a very valuable resource, this has never really meant that much to me. It wasn't until I saw this film that I realized how much we all take water for granted and wonder why it can both be so easy and so hard to access something so pivotal to life. From both the film and the following discussion, I really learned about what I can do to help combat this problem. Since the event, I have actively participated in online groups about this topic and I have began doing small things, like drinking tap water and not buying water bottles anymore, that I can do. This event really opened eyes to the truth of what life is like outside our pretty American bubble. It showed us what we can do to help ourselves and our environment in terms of our water supply. Although it was a success, I felt there could have been some improvements. Firstly, there should have been a longer panel discussion. The film itself should have been more widely promoted. I also think that if there had been more people leading the discussion panel, we might have been able to really delve into other aspects of the film, outside the damage that these corporations have done to people and the environment.
Overall, I found the FLOW to be a very enlightening experience. Although there was some obvious bias in the film, it was easy to figure and didn't ruin the educational experience itself. The information presented in the film showed a large range of activity in this controversial topic, from problems to solutions, and gave the audience a solid basis to think on and good starting point for further engagement and study. The following panel discussion helped to start the thinking process and really invited observation, question, and argument. All in all, this experience was quite illuminating and I personally felt that it achieved its goal.
