Water, water everywhere? Depending on your location, maybe so.
But clean, accessible, sustainable water? That’s another, more troubled (and troubling) story, told in different ways in recent years by a number of documentary films. In 2020, Tim Neeves’ Brave Blue World provided a slick, celebrity-centric, but cogently and persuasively presented tour of the global water crisis, along with a sampling of possible remedies, while Flint, Michigan’s now-notorious saga of grossly mismanaged water supplies has spawned a number of scathing, searching films.
Photographer turned director Brittany App’s Where There Once Was Water isn’t the first documentary to narrow its focus to California’s struggles in this area (Marina Zenovich’s 2017 film Water & Power: A California Heist comes to mind), but its tenor and tactics are its own. For media librarians, particularly at public libraries, it might serve as a useful transitional resource, bridging the gap between data-heavy, doom-tinged eco-docs and more inspirational, even spiritually-oriented productions.
A few different subtitles, or taglines, have been attached to Where There Once Was Water. “A California Story” is one, and “Notes from California” is another. The latter is more apt, because, despite the film’s ostensible remit, App’s approach is more diffuse than it first appears. Less concerned with the science and politics of water management than she is with encouraging viewers to write what she calls, in a somewhat vague, awkwardly integrated voiceover narration, a “new story” about humanity’s relationship with the environment. For App, the crucial node is the individual consumer, each of whom must decide between prioritizing the natural world’s interconnectedness or perpetuating our species’ ingrained habits of extraction, whatever the consequences.
Regarding those consequences, the news isn’t news anymore. The climate crisis’ Chicken Little moment has long since passed, but Pollyannas won’t help much either. Every attempt to address the world’s environmental emergency faces a choice of emphasis between alarm and encouragement, rage and hope. Where There Once Was Water takes the stakes seriously, but opts for a rhetoric of easygoing exhortation, alternating intervals of majestic tracking shots (and “big picture” narration) with down-to-earth interview segments, in which farmers, scientists, and activists detail potential solutions derived from new thinking and old wisdom (such as, "Hey, those trees and beavers sure seem to know what they’re doing!").
A third tagline you may see attached to Where There Once Was Water is “A Song for the Sacred in All of Us.” More of an annotated prayer than a textbook, App’s brief documentary is as clean, clear, and accessible as the water whose song it sings.
What kind of film series would this documentary fit in?
Where There Once Was Water would integrate well with a film series focused on environmental documentaries of a general, not-too-technical nature, or else with a particular emphasis on water issues, or the state of California.
What kind of film collection would this title be suitable for?
Documentary collections at public libraries, academic libraries, and high school Library Media Centers.
Does this film have Public Performance Rights available?
Yes, Public Performance Rights are available for purchase from the film’s official website.