Project Detail

Rave On for the Avon

Synopsis

When the water company and local authorities fail the community, the wild swimmers of Bristol fight back through activism, swimming like a mermaid and getting married.
Do humans have the right to nature? In this tender film, director Charlotte Sawyer tells a story of a community of wild swimmers in Bristol (UK) affected by raw sewage pollution of the river Avon. England is one of the only two countries in the world to have a fully privatised water and sewage disposal system, and with only 14% of English rivers in good ecological health, the mission to keep the rivers clean is not going well.
In a series of moving, exciting and thought-provoking scenes, the swimmers create a stunning, light-hearted yet fascinating tapestry, probing how activism starts from the grassroots, and carries a profound universal lesson for all of us. There’s a wedding, drum’n’bass, an inflatable turd, and a whole lot of cheesecake in this poignant reflection on people’s innovative battles for the natural world they cherish.

Details

Year
2024
Type of project
Features
Running time
86 min
Director
Charlotte Sawyer 1st Feature
Producer
Sonia Wargacka
Co-Producer
Aggie Nyagari-Salt
Executive Producer
Mel Rodrigues
Director of Photography
Charlotte Sawyer

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

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