Watch the 2018 award-winning films, meet Maude Barlow, and join us for the Opening Night reception!
Best Film: Holy (Un)Holy River
Toronto Premiere | USA | 2017 | 60 min
Honourable Mention: Fix And Release
CANADA | 2017 | 15.5 min
Honourable Mention: Amazonia Dammed
Canadian Premiere | UK | 2017 | 14 min
The Local Oyster Stout
Canadian Premiere | USA | 2017 | 8 min
The 2018 Water Docs Water Warrior Award
This year marks the launch of our annual Water Warrior Award which we will present to an individual who has passionately spent much of their life working to protect and raise awareness about threats and issues to water. Our 2018 recipient is Maude Barlow.
The 2018 Water Warrior Award Recipient: Maude Barlow
Maude Barlow is the Honorary Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and chairs the board of Washington-based Food and Water Watch. She serves on the executive of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and is a Councillor with the Hamburg-based World Future Council.
Maude is the recipient of fourteen honorary doctorates as well as many awards, including the 2005 Right Livelihood Award (known as the “Alternative Nobel”), the 2005 Lannan Foundation Cultural Freedom Fellowship Award, the Citation of Lifetime Achievement at the 2008 Canadian Environment Awards, the 2009 Earth Day Canada Outstanding Environmental Achievement Award, the 2009 Planet in Focus Eco Hero Award, and the 2011 EarthCare Award, the highest international honour of the Sierra Club (US).
In 2008/2009, she served as Senior Advisor on Water to the 63rd President of the United Nations General Assembly and was a leader in the campaign to have water recognized as a human right by the UN. She is also the author of dozens of reports, as well as 18 books, including her latest, Blue Future: Protecting Water For People And The Planet Forever and Boiling Point, Government Neglect, Corporate Abuse and Canada’s Water Crisis.
Emcee: Dr. Stephen Scharper,
Associate Professor, U of T
Join us for an evening of the best of the best as we honour and celebrate our 2018 award winners!
Thursday, April 12, 2018, 6:00 - 9:30 PM at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema (map)
And then bring your ticket to celebrate after the films at the Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Avenue, just 2 blocks east of the cinema, 1/2 block south of Bloor.
Holy (Un)Holy River
Toronto Premiere | USA | 2017 | 60 min
Filmmakers: Jake Norton & Pete McBride
HOLY (UN)HOLY RIVER follows the world’s most revered and reviled river, the great Ganges River of India. The film’s directors, Jake Norton and Pete McBride, followed the river source-to-sea in 2013, documenting its intense beauty and struggles. The film tells the story of the River and all its dichotomies and complexities; a river that is revered by a billion people, depended upon by 500 million, and is at once a source of life and inspiration as well as death, pollution, and tragedy.
Fix and Release
CANADA | 2017 | 15.5 min
Filmmaker: Scott Dobson
FIX AND RELEASE explores the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre, a small turtle trauma centre in Peterborough Ontario Canada as it fights to even the odds for survival that freshwater turtles face in a modern world. Most turtle species in Canada are endangered due to loss of habitat and collisions with cars and boats. Dr. Sue Carstairs leads a team of dedicated staff and volunteers as they develop their own groundbreaking approach to reptile medicine. This visually beautiful film shows turtles in a way that few have seen before - highlighting their amazing ability to recover from catastrophic injury and hinting that these ancient creatures may be more complex than previously thought. Turtles are vital for healthy wetlands and every saved turtle makes a difference. As Dr. Carstairs says, “We are saving the world one turtle at a time”.
Amazonia Dammed
Canadian Premiere | UK | 2017 | 14 min
Filmmaker: Ada Bodjolle
AMAZONIA DAMMED tells the story of the Munduruku people's urgent struggle to protect the heart of the Amazon against one of the largest mega-dam projects on earth. Through the director's relationship with the community of Sawré Muybu, the film invites the audience to discover how these brave warriors of the modern day fight an impossible war of hope and joins its voice to the growing awareness of the need to preserve our planet's remaining rainforests.
The Local Oyster Stout
Canadian Premiere | USA | 2017 | 8 min
Filmmaker: Mark Burchick
An oyster farmer, a shucker, and a brewery collaborate on Maryland's first farm to table Oyster Stout beer, reviving a time-honoured tradition of the industrial past and charting a future for sustainability in the Chesapeake Bay.
“Celebrate life. To truly live, celebrate each day of life. Let each day be a festival of joy.”
Celebrate with us!
Join us to celebrate the 2018 Water Docs Film Festival after the discussion for our Opening Night Reception at the Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Avenue, just 2 blocks east of the cinema, south of Bloor.
