Today, more than 500 million people around the world lack access to clean drinking water. Global warming, drought, overconsumption, corporate greed, terrorism and political corruption have all contributed to a stark reality where fresh water is scarce, expensive and not a guaranteed human right. Coinciding with World Water Day (March 22), National Geographic has announced two new projects from Academy Award winner Alex Gibney ("Going Clear", "Taxi to the Dark Side") that will air throughout the month of March and shed light on critical issues bubbling up around the world and in our own backyards.
First, following a successful debut at the 2017
Sundance Film Festival, is the feature documentary Water & Power: A California Heist. Directed by Emmy award winner Marina Zenovich ("Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired") and executive produced by Gibney and Jigsaw Productions, the film unfolds like a real-life version of the 1974 film noir "Chinatown," as it peels back the layers of California's history of water manipulations.
Following a limited theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles March 3, Water & Power: A California Heist will air globally on National Geographic in 171 countries and 45 languages starting March 14 at 9/8c. For more information, visit: natgeotvpressroom.com.
Through candid interviews with award-winning journalists, local citizens, activists, state officials, environmental attorneys, farmers, investors, scientists and developers, Water & Power: A California Heist examines pivotal events that now jeopardize the state's groundwater reserves and explores one of the most urgent crises of our time: the privatization of a natural resource that is essential to our survival as a species. While recent rains have eased the drought across California, the ongoing drama of the groundwater story - impacted by decades of pumping - is only now coming to light.
Then, beginning on Tuesday, March 21, at 9/8c, National Geographic and Jigsaw Productions present Parched, a three-part companion series narrated by Gibney that investigates water wars from West Virginia and Michigan to Syria and India. The series explores the corporate, political and social interests that are responsible for our water-limited future.
Programming schedule:
Water & Power: A California Heist - two-hour feature documentary Directed by Marina Zenovich Premieres: Tuesday, March 14, 9 p.m.-11 p.m. ET/PT Water & Power: A California Heist reveals the story of how a handful of water barons gained control of the state's most precious resource, while drought and a groundwater crisis left local homeowners with dry wells. From a 1990s backroom rewrite of the State Water Project through a breaking investigation into illicit transfers of groundwater, the film peels back the layers on a complex world most of us know nothing about and would never question unless our taps ran dry. California supplies half of the nation's produce and is the world's fifth largest food supplier. With our breadbasket at stake, Americans and the world are waking up to a stark reality: Water is the next commodity, and it is rapidly growing more valuable. As a California resident warns us, "You're going to be next. Just watch, you're going to be next."
Parched: Money Flows Directed by Jed Rothstein Premieres: Tuesday, March 21, 9 p.m.-10 p.m. ET/PT Many people know about the disaster in Flint, Michigan, where thousands were poisoned by government negligence. What they do not know is that this tragedy is part of a larger, much lesser known story that began in Detroit. When the financial crisis hit in 2008, fast-rising water fees resulted in thousands of residents without access to water in their homes, and precipitated Flint's disastrous decision to draw water from the Flint River. This episode explores an alarming trend in the water sector, where Wall Street banks control municipalities, ultimately holding the everyday American's water supply in their grip.
Parched: Toxic Waters Directed by Johanna Hamilton Premieres: Tuesday, March 28, 9 p.m.-10 p.m. ET/PT In West Virginia, a cattle farmer traces the deterioration of his livestock to illegal dumping on the Ohio River in in the 1980s, unraveling a corporate conspiracy by DuPont that leaves thousands at risk. In California's Central Valley, oil companies have moved into agricultural areas - but when heavy lobbying results in lax oversight and regulation, the result is water contamination.
Parched: Global Water Wars Directed by: Dough Shultz Premieres: Tuesday, April 4, 9 p.m.-10 p.m. ET/PT This episode of Parched zeros in on the world's most vulnerable hot spots for water-related conflict. In the shadowy outskirts of India's capital city, a powerful water mafia steals water from government and private reserves, and sells it to those who can pay the hefty price. Meanwhile in Syria, ISIS uses the region's limited water supply as a weapon, capturing dams and leaving the locals who depend on them helpless. Get a foreboding look at the world's future through the lens of global water supply. Water & Power: A California Heist and Parched are produced for National Geographic Channels by Jigsaw Productions. For Jigsaw Productions, executive producers are Alex Gibney, Stacey Offman, Lynne Kirby and Erica Sashin and co-executive producer is Richard Perello. For the feature documentary, Marina Zenovich is director and executive producer. For National Geographic Channels, Kevin Tao Mohs is executive producer and Tim Pastore is president, original programming and production.
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