Water is perceived differently according to local culture, history, beliefs, issues and priorities. We intend to travel from January to August 2014 and meet local populations in order to discover the way people and water interact throughout the world.

Our 52-minute movie will stimulate reflection on the way we consider water. The documentary aims at raising awareness about its rarity, and making people more conscious of the need to protect, preserve and save it. The film will be available free on television networks, in festivals, schools and on the internet afterwards.

Why make this film?

We can never say it enough: the lack of drinkable water will have much larger consequences than the lack of oil or other fossil fuels. The source for everything and present everywhere, water is essential for life on Earth. Our aim with this film is to sensitize people - westerners and children - to better respect, preserve and save water.

Water is consumed differently depending on the country’s development. An American uses between 400 and 600 liters of water per day, a European uses 200 liters, while an African survives on less than 30 liters a day.

(Sources : CNRS - World Water Council)

Despite the fact that the Earth is covered in water, its presence is unequally distributed from country to country. In addition, the amount of easily obtained potable water is infinitely smaller than the volume of water on the planet. For more information on this subject, please check out this striking scientific graphic.

Eau-terre

The project

We are going to travel all over the world for eight months (January to August 2014) to meet people from countries with very different water-related situations to reach a better understanding of water use and their perceptions of it.

Namibia - A lack of water

New Zealand - Western water management

Indonesia - Monsoon, rice cultivation

Laos - Dams, access to water, downriver/upriver relations

Cambodia - Fairy tales

Botswana - Drought

Nepal - Springs, glaciers

France - Agriculture, water sports

The film makers

Perrine Chauvin

Agricultural engineer specialised in water management

Perrine has travelled to many countries to work on agriculture. She has studied among others the traditional operation of an irrigated area in Morocco. She is currently a project manager in river water management. Perrine is also a paraglider, mountaineer and rock climber. She speaks English, German and Spanish fluently and has a strong base in Nepali and Berber. Her specialty in international water management has taken her all over the world: six months in Morocco, six months in Argentina and six months in Mexico. She has also lived three months in Nepal and Guatemala.

Perrine

Guillaume

Filmmaker, editor, photographer

Guillaume has more than ten years of outdoor film-making experience in the most far off, extreme locations in the world: winter blizzards in Scotland and Norway, lost in rural Bhutan and China, perched on rock faces in Canada and Mexico or flying over the Moroccan desert. Guillaume has a solid background in visual communications, speaks English and is at home behind his camera under any conditions. He has been received awards from many festivals (USA, Canada, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, New Zealand), and his films total over 4 million views online.

Guillaume

Here are some of his achievements (watch more films from Guillaume)

Nissan Outdoor Games [5 min - 2008]

Shot and edited in five days, in the Chamonix valley. This film shows the making of a very difficult still picture.

Petzl RocTrip China [26 min - 2012]

Co-directed with BarakaFlims, this outstanding movie shows the massive event organized in China by Petzl.

About Petzl [13 min - 2008]

Visit the company for a quick insight into the office, the R&D department and production.

Petzl RocTrip Argentina [26 min - 2013]

For the tenth edition of the Petzl RocTrip, more than 1500 people climbed in the wind, dust, heat, and cold, for an unforgettable Patagonian experience!

Les Chants de l'Eau - Film documentaire