Directors/Producers: Tim Webster, Ernesto Cabellos
Description:
The West Bank has been home to Palestinian communities like Al
Hadidiya for generations. Since occupying it in 1967, Israel has made
it increasingly difficult for communities like Al Haddidya to access,
maintain and own water systems. Water shortages have critical impacts
on agriculture, livestock and households, while an abundance of water
allows families and businesses to thrive in illegal settlements. The
West Bank is divided into three areas: A, B and C. Area C is under
full Israeli military and civilian control. For centuries,
Palestinians have sourced water through hundreds of ground and
rainwater wells. Under Israel’s control, however, there has been a
strategic demolition of wells on Palestinian territory and Abu is
prevented from renovating them. Without enough water, crop yields
are poor, and he often only harvests enough to feed his animals.
Living North of Abu and also in Area C, Eli Gilad of the Israeli
community of Masua enjoys ample water access. Eli manages a vast date
plantation with thousands of trees, each tree requiring a thousand
liters of water per day. Israeli policy means that Eli, like other
Israeli settlers, can access millions of liters of water a day,
helping him produce dates on a commercial scale which are exported
internationally. Despite being physically connected to the
same land, the two farmers’ experiences are detached and unequal.
Biography:
Tim
Webster is a documentary filmmaker from Brighton, UK with a
passion for directing and producing anthropocentric films that
highlight cultural, political and environmental issues. Tim won two
Gold awards in the Lovies 2018 for The real price of water,
which received over 27 million views worldwide. He is also a
photographer and recently worked on an undercover investigation to
expose the injustices of the fishmeal industry in West Africa.
Ernesto Cabellos is an award-winning Peruvian documentary filmmaker. He has produced
and directed the feature documentary films Choropampa, the price of
gold, and Tambogrande. His latest film Daughter of the Lake was
available on Netflix worldwide and received more than 40
international awards and distinctions. It tells the story of Nelida,
an Andean woman able to communicate with water spirits to prevent a
mining corporation from destroying the lakes of her community.
