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 | THE WELL: VOCI D'ACQUA DALL'ETIOPIA
(THE WELL: WATER VOICES FROM ETHIOPIA) | US Premiere |
Director: Paolo Barberi & Riccardo Russo
Italy, 2011, 57min
Format: Digital (screening) - HDV, BetaSP (shooting)
Festival Year: 2014
Category: Documentary
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| Crew: | Producers: Paolo Barberi - Cinematographer: Paolo Barberi, Riccardo Russo - Editor: Andrea Ciacci, Federico Schiavi - Composer: Marco Antonio Guimaraes
| | Email: | barberi mclink.it | | web: | www.thewell.it |
synopsis
Each year, when the dry season reaches its peak in Southern Ethiopia, the Borana herders gather with their livestock around their ancient wells.Huge hand-excavated craters, known as 'singing wells', allow them to survive during the long annual droughts, when thousands of people and animals move closer in search for survival.Every day the young shepherds form human chains, allowing them to reach the depths of the well and bring up the water. Their hard work is accompanied by a song which seems to draw the great herds as they slowly come near, after days of walking across a dry and dusty land.The documentary follows the daily life, which revolves around the ancient Erder wells, throughout the drought until the long-awaited rain comes.Through interaction with several characters from this place, the film introduces us to a unique water management system that allows the Borana shepherds to manage the small quantity of available water as the property and right of everyone.Nobody can be denied to access water, neither the herders of an enemy tribe in need.While we can see all around the world actions towards a privatized control over water resources and the access to drinkable water is still not considered a fundamental human right, the Borana deserve a special attention for the extraordinary way in which they guarantee general and indiscriminate access to water in one of the driest inhabited regions on earth.
director
Paolo Barberi: Anthropologist and filmmaker, teaches cultural anthropology at the University of Rome "La Sapienza".
Riccardo Russo: Geographer and filmmaker, an expert in communication and development. His research focus on social and environmental issues; he collaborates with several universities and NGO's.
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