Intersections Virtual Film Series |
 
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Sustainability Institute at Penn State presents a virtual film screening of THE WATER FRONT as part of the Intersections Virtual Film Series on Monday, March 22 at 7:00 pm ET. Guests are welcome to participate in a live chat beginning at 6:30 pm ET, watch the livestream film screening beginning promptly at 7:00 pm ET, and participate in a live post-screening discussion at 8:00 pm ET.
Screening Room opens with live chat: 6:30 pm ET
Film Screening: 7:00 pm ET
Post-Screening Discussion: 8:00 pm ET via Zoom (Click here!)
To watch the film and chat: Go to the Film Screening Room and enter the video password. Note: The video password was provided by your host: Sustainability Institute at Penn State. Contact [email protected] if you have questions.
For information about THE WATER FRONT read the synopsis and watch the trailer.
Liz Miller (2007, U.S., 53 min.) + post-film discussion
The environmental justice movement has spent decades trying to reverse the structural inequities built into American society that disproportionately place environmental burdens on communities of color and low-income communities. Through tireless efforts, they have raised national awareness of issues like PCB exposure at landfills in Warren County, North Carolina and uranium exposure from mining on the Navajo Nation reservation. Yet, all too often many people understand environmental justice as only being about burdens from pollution.
Liz Miller’s THE WATER FRONT offers another critical aspect of the EJ movement: security. Even when basic resources like water are clean, too often communities of color are denied basic human rights in being able to access these resources affordably. That was the case for residents of Highland Park, Michigan, a community whose economy had been hollowed out by the decline of American automobile manufacturing and who privatized its water system to raise funds quickly for the debt-burdened town. In doing so, the town exposed its mostly African American residents to cripplingly high water bills from the new private owner of the water system. crisis unfolds, Miller takes us behind the lines of community action to demand justice for all.
The idea of water security is an important for communities globally and one that Penn State researchers are leading the charge to explore and protect. Join us for this screening and critical post-film conversation led by faculty from Penn State’s Water Council to consider issues of water security and environmental justice in Pennsylvania.
(Shown in partnership with the Penn State Water Council)