Water Drops Shorts Program

Brief but powerful odes to our connections to water and those who would save it ... and a loving look at canoes.

Skeleton Sea: The Tides of Tomorrow
Canadian Premiere | NORWAY | 2016 | 25.5 min
Conserving Water in Urban Areas
World Premiere | CANADA | 2016 | 3 min
The Diver
MEXICO | 2016 | 16 min
En la Orilla (At the Edge)
USA | 2014 | 12.5 min
The Storm Downstream
Canadian Premiere | USA | 2015 | 13 min
The Canoe
CANADA | 2017 | 27 min

Emcee: Rick Miller
Guest Speaker: Goh Iromoto (filmmaker-The Canoe)
Co-presenter: City of Shorts Film Festival

Skeleton Sea: The Tides of Tomorrow
Canadian Premiere | NORWAY | 2016 | 25.5 min

Filmmaker: Mauritz Brekke Solberg

João and Xandi, two surfers in their early 50s, have been working together for 25 years. They clean beaches, picking up trash that they use to create stunning artworks. But living as artists and idealists in Portugal makes for a hard, penurious life and one that takes a toll on their families. Even so the two are driven by their desire to raise awareness about the ever-growing pollution in our oceans.

Conserving Water in Urban Areas
World Premiere | CANADA | 2016 | 3 min

Filmmaker:  Tammy Foster

This film examines an Urban Green Infrastructure Project at Lower Thames Conservation Authority office, in Chatham, Ontario, designed to collect, filter and slowly release roof and parking lot runoff water.

The Diver
MEXICO | 2016 | 16 min

Filmmaker: Esteban Arrangoiz | Spanish with English Subtitles

Julio César Cu Cámara is the chief diver in the Mexico City sewage system. Amid incredible debris, his job is to repair pumps and dislodge garbage that flows into the gutters, to keep sewage waters running.

En la Orilla (At the Edge) 
USA | 2014 | 12.5 min

Filmmakers: Liza Hoos and Xavier Basurto | Spanish with English Subtitles

Gaspar and his family live in Agua Verde, a 256-person town on the eastern coast of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. Day by day, they struggle to catch enough fish and make enough money to pay for the things they need, always living at the edge of their means.

Fishing is getting harder every year, but Gaspar still has faith that with enough patience and time he can maintain his family's quality of life. But he knows that his might be the last generation that can manage this balancing act, so he and his wife, Silvia, work hard to ensure their children will lead a different life.

The Storm Downstream
Canadian Premiere | USA | 2015 | 13 min

Filmmaker: Jesseca Simmons

Peter DeFranco, born and raised in Alabama, tries to save his backyard lake from harmful sediment pollution caused by a large development site upstream. Although human eyes cannot penetrate the murky water, and an end to the problem doesn’t come clearly into sight,  DeFranco arrives a special understanding in his passionate attempt to save Scout Creek Lake.

The Canoe
CANADA | 2017 | 27 min

Filmmaker: Goh Iromoto

“If it is love that binds people to places in this nation of rivers and in this river of nations, then one enduring expression of that simple truth is surely the canoe.”– James Raffan  

This film captures the bond between human and nature created by Canada’s well-known watercraft and water symbol – the canoe. Through the stories of five canoeists paddling through different parts of Ontario, the film – gorgeously lyrical in visual composition and narration – underscores the strength of the human spirit and how the canoe can be a vessel for creating deep and meaningful connection.