4 Freshwater Films You Need To Stream
Freshwater made it to the BAFTAs earlier this year, thanks to an acclaimed film by Karni Arieli and Saul Freed.
Wild Summon (nominated for Best Animated Short) combines animation with live-action underwater photography to tell the dramatic life cycle of the wild salmon in human form – her fight for survival as she migrates from a freshwater river to the open ocean – and then all the way back to her birthplace to spawn her young.
Narrated by Marianne Faithfull, the filmmakers describe Wild Summon as a “natural history fantasy”.
“If you watch the film without the sound, it might look like some sort of science-fiction film about creatures that live underwater. If you do the opposite – if you just listen to the voiceover – then it’s a straight natural history documentary”, Freed says.
The arresting film has won multiple awards since it premiered at the Cannes film festival last year, as well as being nominated for a Palme d’Or, shortlisted for an Academy Award, and up for a BAFTA.
If Wild Summon has got you falling down the freshwater film rabbit hole too, here’s more you can check out today!
Artifishal: The Fight To Save Wild Salmon (2019), Blue Heart: The Fight For Europe’s Last Wild Rivers (2018), DamNation: The Problem With Hydropower (2014)
We’ve cheated a bit here because number 1 on our list is actually three films. Patagonia have made three films about freshwater issues, with the goal to spark dialogue and encourage change.
Artifishal: The Fight To Save Wild Salmon (2019) is a film about people, the fight for the future of wild fish and the environment that supports them. The film explores wild salmon’s slide toward extinction, threats posed by fish hatcheries and fish farms, and our continued loss of faith in nature.
Blue Heart: The Fight for Europe’s Last Wild Rivers (2018) is a shocking look at the tsunami of dam development in the Balkan Peninsula, as the construction of 3,000 proposed hydropower developments threaten to destroy the last wild rivers in Europe.
The majestic cinematography of DamNation: The Problem with Hydropower (2014) highlights the destructive effect of obsolete dams on healthy river ecosystems and habitats, as well as rivers splashing back to life when the infrastructure is removed.
HOW TO WATCH: Watch Artifishal, Blue Heart and DamNation on YouTube for free.
The Ghosts of Table Mountain (2022)
The Ghosts of Table Mountain (2022) is an intimate look at the Table Mountain Ghost Frog by Freshwater Films.
The short documentary reveals the secret lives of the critically endangered frog – one of SHOAL’s Fantastic Freshwater species – as well as other freshwater creatures who depend on South Africa’s ancient, rocky beacon of biodiversity Table Mountain, including caddis-flies and Cape galaxias.
A story of conservation, collaboration and hope – the filmmakers aim to introduce viewers to the rare and beautiful amphibian, as well as the threats that are impacting the rivers and streams it calls home.
HOW TO WATCH: Watch on YouTube for free
The Worth of Water: A Great Lakes Story (2020)
The great lakes are Earth’s largest freshwater system, holding around 20% of the planet’s surface freshwater and home to more than 35,000 species of flora and fauna.
This feature length documentary by Julia Robson and Alyssa Armbruster follows the co-creators of Walk to Sustain Our Great Lakes as they embark on a 343 mile walk from the shores of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, WI, all the way to Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
HOW TO WATCH: Watch on YouTube for free
Freshwater Invertebrates (2020)
Filmmakers Ferenc Kriska and György Kriska put the spotlight on some of the most important, but overlooked, species in the freshwater ecosystem in this short documentary.
If you only have half an hour to spare, spend it diving into the secret worlds of a range of invertebrate fauna of the wetland – including pond skaters, mayflies and water spiders.
HOW TO WATCH: Watch on YouTube for free
