February 22, 2008
“One Water,” Produced By University Of Miami, Premieres At Miami International Film Festival
Coral Gables, FL. (February 22, 2008) – One Water, a celebration of our planet's relationship to water produced by the University of Miami, will have its world premiere at the Miami International Film Festival on Sunday, March 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Colony Theater (1040 Lincoln Road) in Miami Beach. Filmed in 14 countries, One Water explores the global fresh water crisis and how this invaluable resource touches on every aspect of human life and culture.
One Water is an immersive experience that shows the state of the world’s fresh water and its affect on people, which is becoming more aggravated by population growth and climate change and compromises the future of all life on the planet. This spectacular film also raises the essential question about clean, safe water being a basic human right.
“A great university embraces great challenges,” said UM President Donna E. Shalala, who narrated the film. “With the production of One Water, the University of Miami has made human what is our world’s greatest challenge – the fundamental right to fresh, safe water.”
The One Water film project was a six-year-long collaborative project involving the University of Miami School of Communication, College of Engineering and Frost School of Music. Donna Shalala, Professor of Political Science and President of the University of Miami, narrates. Writer-producer-director Sanjeev Chatterjee is Vice Dean of the School of Communication and Executive Director of the Knight Center for International Media; editor-director Ali Habashi is UM director of the Arnold Center for Confluent Media Studies; UM School of Communication Professor Ed Talavera was director of photography; and Thomas M. Sleeper of UM Frost School of Music composed and conducted the orchestra that recorded the music for the film.
One Water’s completion and distribution is supported with major support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
One Water includes candid interviews with many international notables like the H.H. Tenzin Gyatso, the XIV Dalai Lama and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and the film shows how people from India to Ecuador, Hungary to Kenya, and China to the United States are struggling to obtain water for their most basic needs, while the more fortunate thoughtlessly squander this precious resource and names might even fight over control of water resources.
“The purpose of the film is to open a window for audiences into the real situations that human beings are faced with in regards to water. This film should motivate individual responsibility and perhaps action,” said Sanjeev Chatterjee, Vice Dean of the School of Communication, who is writer, producer and director of the film.
If you wish to view One Water, there will be a press screening at the Bill Cosford Cinema on UM’s Coral Gables campus on Saturday, February 23 at 10:00 a.m. Please RSVP to contacts listed.
For more information, visit www.onewater.org.
To purchase tickets, visit www.miamifilmfestival.com or call 305-405-MIFF. To set up interviews with film creators, please contact:
Melissa Rubi Falcón at mrubi@miami.edu, 305.284.6748
The University of Miami’s mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of the diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world. www.miami.edu
The mission of the Miami International Film Festival (MIFF) is to bridge cultural understanding, endorse tolerance and encourage artistic development and excellence within a vigorous academic setting by provoking thought through film. By bringing the best of world cinema to Miami, MIFF presents the city and the film industry with a singular platform that fosters creative and technical talent. www.miamifilmfestival.com.
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Contact:
Barbara Gutierrez
bgutierrez@miami.edu
305-284-5500
Melissa Reigle
mel@miamifilmfestival.com
305-237-3865, 305-498-7039
