INTERVIEW WITH EMMETT BRENNAN OF REFLECTION: A WALK WITH WATER

Committing yourself to a 200-mile water walk on foot alongside the Los Angeles aqueduct is an accomplishment. The community organization Walking Water and their mission and leadership will make you open up. Your eyes, heart and soul will examine what we are doing to places like Owens Valley in California. The pilgrimage begins here as you can see what has sustained the city of Los Angeles for a near generation. It was once a lush valley full of vegetation and wide streams of bodies of water. Now it is just a vast dry area of land where dust accumulates. And where the water had nowhere to go.

Perception

This is being one of the many reasons why director Emmett Brennan has documented the present treatment of water. Reflection: A Walk With Water, which recently premiered at Tribeca, is to invoke a change to current practices. How we perceive this common element is the first step. We fail to see how its interconnection with the atmosphere, weather, bodies of water and vegetation. That whole cycle that we all learned in grade school has been impeded. Consequently, our best practices must change with a new frame of thought. Emmett Brennan documents how we got to where we are as we are not living on a sustainable footing. Water preservation is necessary for life. We need to “slow down” water.

The Advocacy

Emmett Brennan shows that there are a whole host of supporters behind this frame of mind. For example, Kathy Bancroft is a Paiute Shoshone advisor to the Walking Water as well as Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. She shares wisdom on the water walk. She speaks of her ancestors predicting the drying of the land coming which was amusing at the time. Rhamis Kent is an international ecological designer and permaculture teacher who tells it like it is. He discusses the relevance of bio-organisms and their role in preserving water. Lastly, the founder of Tree People Andy Lipkis knew that trees were vital at the age of 18. The practice of replanting trees would combat urban climate which is a massive problem in the state of California.

These activists are sharing their knowledge in the areas of soil, vegetation, wastewater, groundwater and air quality. Along with Brennan, they too know the struggle between urban and rural areas and their fight for water. During droughts, the city needs to pull water from other areas to complement the demands of overpopulation. Which goes back to the problem of Owens Valley which was once a source of available water. Despite historical, cultural and scientific facts and figures, embedding this into policy-making or urban design is another obstacle to hurdle. Knowing that there is a lack of water is one thing, but knowing what to do with it is another. That another is biting the dust, literally.

California Fires

The approach of Emmett Brennan in this film Reflection: A Walk With Water is admirable. This is a man who has escaped, experience and survived the California fires. This is now the common enemy that the state of California has to battle with because of water scarcity. It is an apocalyptic problem where many are still grieving and recovering from pain. With that said, here is the courage and determination of a filmmaker who is still grieving because of this experience. But as well is taking the problem into his own hands.

Sustainable Filmmaking

Here is a filmmaker who gets up close and personal with water. We all forget as an audience that he films this 200-mile hike. Bennett lugs his filming equipment to bring your the interviews, sequences, narratives, images and sounds of this pilgrimage. Furthermore, he builds a sustainable home in Sonoma Country seen in the film. He lives off the grid to embrace the philosophies and values of those interviewed. But his relationship with water changes when you watch our interview with him below. Within this confine, he edits the film in post-production. This shows his frame of mind and spirit that went into this meditative documentary. It comes from a better place.

The Future

Without manifesting a more doomsday approach to the documentary, Emmett Brennan gives us much hope for an already dire situation. Owens Valley and the area of the Los Angeles aqueduct is a snippet of the future of urban centres. The film presents a simple problem with complex solutions. Reflection: A Walk With Water shows that this problem can keep on snowballing into other problems with many apocalyptic undertones. Our relationship with water is cause for reassessment. The way we think of water and how we use it needs an overhaul. Furthermore, a revamp is not enough to think of a sustainable future. This narrative extends in the film to bring a change to our mind frame. We ourselves need a different lens and view in which Emmett Brennan has already had a head start.

FERNTV spoke to Emmett Brennan in regards to the film so click below

www.reflectionfilm.com