Water and the City: Revitalizing our Urban Spaces

On Tuesday, March 5, the Water Docs Film Festival and Evergreen's Don River Valley Park partner to deliver a series of short films focused on urban rivers. Each film shares examples of communities who have taken action to transform and revitalize their rivers and waterfronts. Recognizing these critical water ways are integral to the health of the environment, these films focus on inspiring projects from individuals and groups who want to protect and make change. 

After the screenings, you are invited to stay for a panel discussion about the issues raised in the films and how they relate to Toronto.

Tickets are free but registration is required. Register here.

Reception begins at 6:30 pm and show starts at 7:00 pm ending at 9 pm. All ticket holders must enter be seated by 6:50 pm, at which time any available seats will be given to the rush line.

Snacks and refreshments will be available for purchase. The shuttle bus to and from Broadview Station will be extended until 10:00 pm.

The films to be screened include: 

ALICE’S GARDEN 
Jenny Plevin
USA | 2018 | 9.5 min
Canadian Premiere
Award Winner | Best Short Film
Alice’s Garden, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is situated on the grounds and waterways that provided safe harbour for freedom seekers as part of the Underground Railroad.  Today, these sacred grounds continue to uplift the community through urban agriculture and community engagement.  In this powerful short, Alice’s Garden’s Executive Director, Venice Williams, passionately connects the grounds valuable history with its present ability to serve hundreds of families, and with the need to conserve and protect the land through innovative water solutions for future generations.  Alice’s Garden is a deeply illuminating and heartfelt film.

THE LUNGS OF THE CITY 
Harrison Swanson & Oliver Czuma
USA | 2018 | 14 min
International Premiere 
The Lungs of the City tells the controversial history of Chicago’s lakefront, through entertaining and sometimes bizarre stories, which include George Lucas of Star Wars fame, the legality of (breaking) the Public Trust, and the development of ‘natural’ beaches.  The film serves to inform of the painstaking task of creating and maintaining the aesthetic of a natural waterfront within a booming urban setting.

HEALING BALTIMORE’S HARBOR 
Sirjaut Kaur Dhariwal & Crystal Berg
USA | 2017 | 27.5 min
Canadian Premiere
As explored by the Centre for Environmental Filmmaking at the University of Washington, Baltimore’s national landmark harbour has become plagued by pollutants, toxins, stormwater runoff and sewage backup, which has reduced it from its one time glory to a detriment to the immediate wildlife, human life and economic life of the city.  And yet, in order to face the clean-up head-on, local water keeper organizations study the dilapidated city infrastructure and begin to fight for clean water and their beloved city.

THE RETURN OF THE HARBOR PORPOISE TO SAN FRANCISCO BAY 
Jim Sugar
USA | 2016 | 9.5 min
Canadian Premiere
Having abandoned San Francisco Bay in the early 1940s, the harbour porpoise have now returned, 65 years later, as a top-level predator and an indicator of the improving health of the bay.   As the film explores, aggressive water health restoration, beginning with the formation of the Save the Bay Foundation in 1963, has allowed for the once dead body of water to again take on life with the return of dolphins, whales, sharks and the famed harbour porpoise.

FROM THE WATER 
Greg Hemmings
Canada | 2018 | 11.5 min
Canadian Premiere
From the Water follows the active surf and paddle-board community that formed five years after an intensive harbour rejuvenation effort in Saint John, New Brunswick.  As set to a touching poem by Robert Moore, which was inspired by the local water keepers, this experimental short pays homage to the human capacity to right a wrong done against nature, and to nature’s ability to provide community members with an inspiring place to play in their own backyard.

KEEPER OF THE CREEK 
Dan Goldes
USA | 2018 | 4.5 min
Canadian Premiere
Joel Goldes, a park steward in his hometown of Oak Park, California, is living proof that one person can improve the health of the world around them.  For the past six years, Goldes has been collecting litter, trapping invasive crayfish, reopening blocked streams, and championing for his local park at city council hearings.  Even as a singular voice in the fight for the park’s viability, Goldes’ need to be helpful keeps him committed to this noble cause.  Keeper of the Creek is an inspirational story about the power of one.

ONWARD EVER: THE BECOMING OF INDIANA’S WHITE RIVER
Brandon Walsh
USA | 2018 | 16 min
Canadian Premiere
In weaving together interviews from city infrastructure workers, environmental activists, illustrators and sculptors, youth volunteers and more, Onward Ever explores the need for a clean and viable river system, on which so many people along Indiana’s White River depend.  In doing so, the film asks viewers to reconsider ‘not how to live life, but why to live life’ in conjunction with nature.