Making the desert bloom?

LIVING WATER is an atmospheric journey into the clash between the state of Jordan, agricultural businesses and Wadi Rum indigenous communities over the last abundant source of drinking water.

World Premiere - 24th Ji.hlava IDFF

International Premiere - Visions du Réel 2021

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Water Value Award / Valor da Água

The best water film of the 27th CineEco / Seia, Portugal

Are you in the Czech Republic? Watch LIVING WATER online at DAfilms.

More countries will be added soon.

Film Crew

Camera, directing and editing: Pavel Borecký
Location sound and sound design: John Grzinich
Dramaturgy: Veronika Janatková
Colour grading: Branko Avramovski
Graphic design: Daniel Vojtíšek
Music: Shadi Khries

Research supervision: Michaela Schäuble, Elias Salameh
Script consultations: Hussam Hussein
3D groundwater model: Muna Dahabiyeh, Mark Gropius

Technical Specifications

English title: Living Water
Czech title: Žít vodu
Arabic title: ماءٌ حَيٌّ
Genre: observational non-fiction
Release: October 2020

Countries of production: Czech Republic, Switzerland, Jordan
Shooting location: Jordan
Runtime: 77 min. / 52 min. TV cut
Format: 4K, 16:9
Sound: stereo / 5.1 Dolby Digital

Synopsis

The vibration of machines echoes across the desert. Ever since Jordanian nomads settled in the spectacular landscape of Wadi Rum, they grew dependent on complex water infrastructure. The source is right below their feet, yet they struggle to meet basic needs.

In the meantime, deep water extraction feeds private large-scale farms, animates visionary development and secures growing urban population. Bedouins, farmers and city dwellers: they all expect to have a fair share, but digging for “blue gold” unleashes environmental timebomb.

LIVING WATER tells the story of power, exploitation and changing ecological circumstances in one of the most water-poor countries in the world.

Film Reviews

Allegra Lab - Living Water, Living lively waters (Chakad Ojani's review, ENG)
Allegra Lab - Living Water and the politics and anti-politics of water in Jordan (Geoffrey Hughes's review, ENG)
Kosovo 2.0 - A Letter to Kosovo's Water Warriors (Pavel Borecký's article, ENG)
The New Arab (Al Araby) - The eternal struggle over water (Nada Al-Azhari's review, ARB)
Cinema #67 - Living Water (Miloš Lazovic's review, GE)
C7inema.net - Living Water: a água e a sua sustentabilidade na Jordânia à lupa (Jorge Pereira Rosa's review, SP)
J:MAG - Living Water de Pavel Borecký donne un aperçu des guerres pour « l’or bleu » (Malik Berkati's review, FR)
Backseat Mafia - CPH:DOX Review - Living Water (Rob Aldam's review, ENG)
Modern Times Review - Jordan’s fragile water resources (Nick Holdsworth's review, ENG)
Business Doc Europe - VdR/CPH: Measuring the competition for water (Geoffrey Macnab's review, ENG)
Variety - ‘Living Water’ Attempts to Raise the Bar on Environmental Documentaries (Will Tizard's review, ENG)

Production

Anthropictures, Pandistan, Institute of Social Anthropology UNIBE

Center for Strategic Studies UJ

produced by Pavel Borecký and Veronika Janatková
in partnership with Art Salam (Paris)
with support of Al Jazeera Documentary (Doha)

Director:

Pavel Borecký - pavel(at)anthropictures.cz

Distribution:

Antipode Sales and Distribution
Elena Podolskaya - elena(at)antipode-sales.biz

Media

RTVE - Reserva Natural - Conflicto por el agua del desierto de Wadi Rum, en Seminci (interview with Josefina Maestre and Javier Angulo, festival director, SP)
Seminci - Pavel Borecky presents ‘Living Water’ about the lack of water in Jordan (SP, ENG)
Lampoon Magazine - Milano: Directors Jashi and Borecký on Documenting reality at ‘Visioni dal Mondo’ 2021 (interview with Martina Tondo)
Institute of Documentary Film - True Story, episode 11: Living Water (interview with Nicole J. Adelman)
Visit Jordan - "Living Water" - un documental ambiental 
CBA Radio - Film in Conversation: Living Water (interview with Lauren Wagner)
Radio Wave - Kazík: "What resonates in today's documentary film, it is interdisciplinarity" (CZ)
Czech Film Center - Living Water to internationally premiere at the Visions du Réel Festival 2021
dok.revue - The world is facing a crisis, writing scientific studies is not enough (interview, CZ)
Czech Radio Vltava - ArtCafé (interview, audio, CZ)
RTVS Radio - Living City (panel discussion, audio, Slovak)

Ammar Khammash, watercolor, 2006, 32cmx26cm