Directed by Irena Salina. (STC) 83 min. Opens Oct 17.
Though you may have been distracted by the small matter of catastrophic global economic meltdown over the last several months, it would also behoove you to take notice of another pressing issue: we are running out of water. A primer on our imminent aqueous apocalypse, Flow: For Love of Water compiles worrying reports from nearly every corner of the globe about the many threats to water quality and access faced not just by those in developing nations but folks closer to home. Most alarming is the story of Michigan residents who have been fighting Nestlé’s efforts to pump hundreds of thousands of gallons out of the state’s water system in order to fill those handy little plastic bottles we like so much.
In filmmaker Irena Salina’s view, the degradation of water supplies due to industrial and agricultural use is a problem that will be compounded rather than alleviated by a newer phenomenon: its commodification by multinational corporations. At the heart of her film is the question of whether anyone can exert that kind of dominance over something so essential to human existence — chances are that question will loom ever larger in Canadian politics as the world clamours for what we got.
Too bad Flow: For Love of Water is hampered by many of the same problems as so many other agitprop docs, principally the urge to cover too much material in too little space. Salina thereby dilutes the overall force of her grim revelations. But there’s still plenty here to trouble whatever sleep you have left these days.