wateronthetable

Water on the Table

Year 2010
Runtime 79 mins
Language English
Alberta Premiere

General

To create WATER ON THE TABLE, director Liz Marshall followed Canadian “water warrior” Maude Barlow across Canada to Alberta’s notorious oil sands and down through America—all the way to the United Nations. Barlow’s argument is simple: shouldn’t the very thing that sustains all life be an inherent human right? Cola manufacturers, who make billions on the bottled and commoditized version of water, argue no—that water is simply another resource to be bought, sold and traded like all of Canada’s other natural resources. Big Oil’s argument is similar—if they have the correct permissions, the water is there for them to use. Barlow can see the bigger picture, and in counties where the free market has been allowed greater and greater control over a country’s water supply, the simple act of collecting rainwater by a regular citizen has been made illegal. Through the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement to NAFTA, present-day concerns over access to water and the stewardship of water in Northern Alberta, Barlow’s life has become defined by Canada’s greatest natural resource.

BDG

Countries

Canada
Director
Liz Marshall
Executive Producer
Shelley Saywell, Deborah Parks
Producer
Liz Marshall, Susan McGrath
Screenwriter
Liz Marshall
Cinematographer
Steve Cosens, CSC, Liz Marshall
Editor
Jeremiah Munce
Music
Jennifer Moore, Mark Shannon
Cast
Maude Barlow