Movie Review: Flow

Following up on my post "8 reasons to not drink bottled water" comes this review of a film called "Flow". Yes, World Water Day has passed, but it's never too late...

A lot of people don't realize what a valuable and limited resource clean, fresh water is, especially those of us in Canada who are surrounded by the stuff. In many areas of the world, access to clean water has become a crisis. Water is being dubbed "Blue gold" and has been labeled as the most important political, environmental and human rights issue of the 21st century. Flow is an important film that brings awareness about this extremely important issue. The film won Best Documentary at both the International film festival and the United Nations Association film festival.

Take a look at the trailer:

Some staggering facts about the state of water around the world:

• Of the 6 billion people on earth, 1.1 billion do not have access to safe, clean drinking water. (www.charitywater.org)
• While the average American uses 150 gallons of water per day, those in developing countries cannot find five. (www.charitywater.org)
• The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns. (www.water.org)
• Californiaʼs water supply is running out – it has about 20 years of water left in the state. Maude Barlow, author of Blue Covenant and co-author of Blue Gold, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, FLOW.
• In Bolivia nearly one out of every ten children will die before the age of five. Most of those deaths are related to illnesses that come from a lack of clean drinking water. Jim Schultz, founder of the Democracy Center in Bolivia, FLOW.

The film covers everything from the world water supply shortage to privatization of water and bottled water, however, the main theme of the film surrounds ownership of water. Does anyone really own water?

Like any documentary, the story is wrought with gloomy music, scientists, activists and stories of the common wo/man losing out at the hands of corrupt multinational corporations. Like any good documentary, they also highlight the opportunity for change and provide their viewers with a place to take action and get involved.

Article 31 - The makers of Flow have started a petition to add a 31st article to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, establishing access to clean water as a fundamental human right. Food is already listed under Article 25 but, amazingly, clean water is not. You can sign the petition here.

Check out the film here.

I also recommend you check out Kelly's post on water here.

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