Fountain Blue Films (Kochi, India)

Co-Directors/Co-Producers: Sudip Joshy and Geetika Sudip
SUDIP JOSHY and GEETIKA SUDIP are a husband wife director duo who have done four television films shot in India, three short films shot in France and a few advertisement films and corporate videos. Sudip completed his Master’s in Filmmaking from the International Film School of Paris and Geetika has an MBA from INSEAD in media management. They have translated the screenplay for a feature film ‘Agam’ in Malayalam.

  

WAT(EV)ER [25:00]
Budget: 3,100,000 Indian Rupee / $49,220.00

This is a documentary on water crisis in India and an insight into the ancient methods of water preservations, which were very effective. We all know that water exists in three forms – liquid water, ice and vapour. India may be one of few countries in the world where water exists in these three different forms in three different states – a monsoon driven Kerala, a snow caped Himalayan Ladakh and the great desert of Rajasthan. Yet the one place that lacks water has the most efficient methods of conservation than the ones with plenty.  The lead characters of this documentary are three different people living in these three different zones, which differ in almost every way yet are united by two enigmas – India and water crisis.

Ladakh is the high altitude cold desert of India. Sansar Chand, a preacher makes his journey through the challenging terrains of Ladakh. There is plenty of water in the form of ice, yet he has no option to get some water to drink.

Then we come to Kerala, the coastal area with plenty of rainfall. Geetika captures the beauty of rains and shows us how water is becoming useless in a county struck by drought.

Finally we come to Rajasthan, the only desert in the subcontinent. Here we find Jodhpur Rajah, the king of Jodpur who started many foundations to conserve water. Rajasthan has long been a desert, so the people are aware of the importance of water conservation. They have been harvesting water for 400 years. The bhavris (wells) designed by indigenous architecture are miracles. The state in drought and with low water availability shows us an almost solution, then.

The main issues addressed in the film are the diverse nature of the country, the diverse nature of water, and the unique issue of water crisis. It is ultimately about the attitude of human beings towards a declining resource. Human beings in areas with more water are less concerned about harvesting; whereas those who have to fight for water have already cultivated that attitude. We must learn from our fathers.

We are making the documentary with some excellent visuals of the cold desert and the monsoon season, and we combine these images with strong narrations about how we will lose these beauties soon if we don’t take care.

The Director of Photography, Mr. Amal Neerad is a director- cameraman who is very well known in India for his cinematography. His visuals of Ladakh are exhilarating.  The coverage of Ladakh is done and we are now working on the monsoon coverage in Kerala.