Directors: Pete McBride, Jake Norton Producers: Pete McBride, Jake Norton, Anand Kamalakar
Description:
Once celebrated for its purity, the Ganges River of India now carries contaminates from its glacial headwaters, where freshly fallen snow contains zinc from industrial emissions. Downriver, the river is dammed sixteen times (with another fourteen dams under construction) to provide hydroelectric power and flood control. All along its course, water is diverted from the river for agriculture and other uses, and the 500 million people in the Ganges basin further pollute the river with household trash, industrial waste, raw sewage and the remains of the dead. Still, the Hindu faithful revere the river as Ma Ganga—or “Mother Ganges”—a physical embodiment of the divine. Millions flock to her banks to bathe and absolve their sins with Ganga jal (Ganges water). And, almost magically, the river does cleanse itself, perhaps through dilution, perhaps through biology and the help of bacteriophages. Holy (un)Holy River examines the paradox of this sacred river—the intricacies of a waterway that is divine and defiled, revered and reviled—and asks the essential question: Can the Ganges survive?
Biography: Pete McBride is a native Coloradan and has spent two decades studying the world with a camera. A self-taught photographer, filmmaker, writer and public speaker, he has traveled on assignment to over seventy-five countries for the National Geographic Society, Smithsonian, Outside, Esquire, Microsoft, The Nature Conservancy and many more.
Jake Norton is a world-renowned climber, photographer, filmmaker, philanthropist and inspirational speaker. Based in Evergreen, Colorado, Jake’s worldwide adventures have taken him to the summit of Mount Everest (three times) and on expeditions on all seven continents.
Anand Kamalakar is a Brooklyn-based film director, producer and editor. The Gowanus Canal (Winner, Best Film, Brooklyn Film Festival), Chief Engineer Conrad, Citizen Sharma, Building Bridges, 300 Miles to Freedom and Garwin are some of the films he has directed.
