Treading Water

Since the start of the year, we’ve been on the lookout for recurring themes which will link up new documentary releases in the UK. It happens regularly that we have these waves of titles all being made around the same period, looking at a certain subject matter or theme from different angles. These occurrences often speak to some of the bigger preoccupations of the day, things which are worrying us on a national or global level.

Once we started looking one theme flowing through some of the new releases we were starting to get really excited about was water.

Now, there are a lot of facts we can use to talk about water, lots of possible stories relative to it which someone may want to make a documentary about. For example, over 70% of the earth is covered with water but only about 1% of that is readily available for human use.

At any given time, about 0.001 percent is sitting above us in the atmosphere and if all that water fell at once like rain then the whole planet would get about 1 inch of rain.

Additionally, human blood is 83% water.

Water (or access to it) is not only a necessity, it also needs to also be appreciated as a fundamental human right which is why it’s so troubling the furiosity with which human activity has historically and continues to impact it for the worse. Whether that be pollution, the tragic consequences of climate change or limiting access to it for some communities.

At the same time water is also playful and beautiful. Formative memories are formed paddling on the beach as a child, eating ice creams on a cold British beach. And, folk stories are written about it, Gods and Goddesses represent it, it is the heart of many people’s community and way of life.  

Over the next two months we’ve picked four films we think collectively can act as an invitation to spend some time dwelling on what water means to us, where precarity around it exists, and how we can better protect it.

The first, Battle for Laikipia takes a hard, unflinching look at a battle over land and resources, pitting the semi-nomadic Samburu people of Kenya against ranchers of European descent. Recognising this is a film to be discussed at length we’re excited to be working with the Racial Justice Network to host it as a talk-a-long screening as part of our Cinema Africa! strand.

Next up Rave on for the Avon heads much closer to home for a warm and energising look at a coalition of local swimmers, scientists and a mermaid who join forces in a community’s battle to fight to protect the River Avon, the Bristol way. Wild swimming in Yorkshire has an amazing community of swimmers using outdoor swimming to improve health and wellbeing, as well as being a catalyst to nurture a supportive community and to deepen our connection to the natural environment. Whilst Rave on for the Avon focuses on experiences in Bristol, the pollution of our waterways is a national problem and we’re excited to be joined at the screening for a special post-film Q&A with the film’s director Charlotte Sawyer for a discussion in which we will explore the film’s relevance to our experiences more locally.

We’re also excited to be joined by the Dip and Dales swimwear company who will host a stall at the screening in perfect timing for summer swimmers to kit up.

Scaling up we’ll then join Sir. David Attenborough for his newest film, Ocean with David Attenborough which makes a rare leap onto the big screen to celebrate Attenborough’s 99th birthday.

This compelling documentary takes viewers on a breath-taking journey showing there is nowhere more vital for our survival, more full of life, wonder, or surprise, than the ocean. In the film the legendary broadcaster and filmmaker reveals how his lifetime has coincided with the great age of ocean discovery. Through spectacular sequences featuring coral reefs, kelp forests and the open ocean, Attenborough shares why a healthy ocean keeps the entire planet stable and flourishing.

And finally to wrap up the series, we will play Wind, Tide & Oar, the beautiful new documentary by filmmaker Huw Wahl. Wahl’s earlier film, To Hell with Culture, was shot predominantly in Leeds exploring the life and ideas of the influential art critic, poet and self-confessed anarchist, Herbert Read. Wind, Tide & Oar is an equally thoughtful and elegiac piece this time about engineless sailing and the people fighting to maintain the traditional skills and crafts essential to this amazing way of exploring the rivers, coastlines, and open seas.

Alongside these great films there’s also the film which got away, a magical fifth film we would have loved to play but which has gone straight to Apple TV+ in the UK without stopping at cinemas. That film is The Last of the Sea Women, an American documentary made in 2024 by director Sue Kim and producer by Malala Yousafzai.

Filmed mainly on South Korea’s Jeju Island, the film follows the Haenyeo divers, a group of women often referred to as real-life mermaids. The Haenyeo are renowned for centuries of diving to the ocean floor — without oxygen — to harvest seafood which for their livelihood. Today, with most Haenyeo now in their 60s, 70s and 80s, their traditions and way of life are in imminent danger despite being recognised by UNESCO since 2016 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. New young divers are starting to show interest in the work so age alone isn’t the barrier to the survival of this amazing craft, instead a more insurmountable challenge around water pollution looms.

The Last of the Sea Women is a warm and inspiring film which celebrates an exceptional skill as well as the amazing women who have built their lives around that practice. Despite the darkness of some of the themes it’s impossible not to also come away inspired and we are sorry we weren’t able to bring this beautiful documentary into this season but do encourage audiences to seek it out.

Some of these films feel close to one another in their approach to the subject or their core message, others feel further apart. All of them challenge us to think about something is it so easy to take for granted.