WATER DOCS FILM FESTIVAL from Wednesday (March 29) to Sunday (April 2) at Hot Docs Cinema (506 Bloor West). waterdocs.ca/2017/. Rating: NNNN
Rebounding from its wobbly 2016 lineup, and newly situated in the Hot Docs Cinema, the Water Docs Film Festival is back for another round of ecologically conscious factual films.
Honestly, I have to give credit to the Ecologos team for continuing to find shorts and features that fit into the very narrow mission statement they’ve set for themselves. Water Docs is a lineup of documentaries about water, and that can be a pretty limiting frame. But this year’s program finds some interesting variations on the theme.
Although the festival officially starts tomorrow (Thursday March 30), the whole thing kicks off tonight (Wednesday March 29) at 6:30 pm with a free screening of RiverBlue at the OISE Auditorium.
Narrated by Jason Priestley, RiverBlue looks at the damage done to freshwater sources as a result of the manufacturing process of jeans and other garments – an aspect of the fashion industry that’s rarely brought to light.
It’ll be followed by a panel on fashion activism moderated by Ecoholic columnist Adria Vasil advance seats are all booked, but rush tickets are still possible, so head down a little early (ideally with the optional donation of “a gently-used article of clothing”) and see what happens.
The festival proper starts tomorrow at 6:30 pm at the Hot Docs Cinema with The Peel Project, a sumptuously photographed doc that follows a half-dozen artists – three of them, Aurora Darwin, Anthony Wallace, Callen Field, from Toronto – into the Peel River Watershed in the Arctic Circle.
Like most of northern Canada, the area is striking in its beauty also like most of northern Canada, its existence is threatened by encroaching development. (In fact, the Supreme Court is currently considering the region’s land-use rights.)
The documentary, co-directed by Wallace and Calder Cheverie, aims to observe the artists as they interpret their experience of the natural world – taking in the space, talking to the people who live there, turning it into images or poetry or music.
It’s an interesting conceptual challenge, and when the pieces click together it can be pretty engaging – though I suspect the best way to see it will be in the presence of the collaborators, as will be the case here. Cheverie, Wallace and Darwin will be joined by Jason LaChappelle and emcee Michael Charbon for a post-screening panel, and Wallace (a composer and musician) will perform before the show. Tickets are available here.
Another worthwhile title is Sea Of Life (Friday, 6 pm), from first-time filmmaker Julia Barnes. Inspired by Rob Stewart coming to her Burlington high school for a screening of Revolution, Barnes went out and made her own globetrotting documentary.
Sea Of Life mixes extended underwater sequences with talking-head segments in which Barnes chats with the people at the forefront of conservation and protection efforts … and if it’s not the most mature work, she’s young and enthusiastic and her heart is in the right place.
In light of Rob’s death last month, seeing him pop up in interview footage was initially jarring – but by the end of the film his presence is a comfort, and Barnes seems like exactly the right person to continue his work and advocacy.
The festival continues at the Hot Docs Cinema through Sunday (April 2). For the full schedule and ticket links, click here.
