World Water Day

March 22, 2007

By Kate Bushman

Roughly 1.1 billion people lack access to clean, safe drinking water, and over 2 billion lack adequate sanitation. For the past 15 years, the international community has celebrated World Water Day to draw attention to the plight of those who bear the burden of our global water crisis. Observance of World Water Day has grown stronger over the years, but awareness of global water issues is still appallingly low.

With this film program, we invite you to take a closer look at how individuals experience and utilize this diminishing resource. Humans use water for agriculture, in our homes and in other entrepreneurial endeavors. Fresh clean water is an economic and environmental necessity, but our limited supply of this precious commodity is threatened by misuse, overconsumption and pollution. Please honor World Water Day and take the opportunity to join The Film Connection in our effort to strengthen the public discourse on water.

Films in the Program

Lagaan

This musical drama, set in Victorian India, chronicles the trails of a group of drought-stricken villagers who must play a cricket match against the British authorities to avoid taxation.

The Grapes of Wrath

The historic narrative of one family who loses their farm to drought during The Great Depression. Based on the John Steinbeck novel.

RX For Survival: A Global Health Challenge

A documentary series from WGBH Boston, narrated by Brad Pitt, that explores today's most pressing global health questions.

A Journey in the History of Water

The dramatic story of how the struggle for fresh water has shaped human society to a remarkable extent.