Burnaby, B.C.-based river advocate Mark Angelo is filming a major international documentary, traveling along a number of the world’s waterways profiling an assortment of river issues and conservation challenges. His working title is The Last Paddle, with a release date sometime in 2014. The film will include an array of examples of rivers that have been lost, saved or restored. Angelo is also bringing in a high profile narrator for the film.
Scenes will feature the Mana Pools section of the Zambezi, the Yamuna and Ganges rivers in India, and the upper reaches of the Pearl River system in China, where the Li River is one of the most astounding stretches of river anywhere—and becomes increasingly polluted near the river’s mouth.
“Our hope is that the film will be an agent for change and that it will generate significant discussion about what’s next in terms of river and water stewardship,” Angelo said. “After our experience last year with the ‘Water for Life’ TV special for the Global TV network in Canada (which handily won its ratings slot), we became intrigued about the possibility of a feature length, river documentary film that could reach an even broader audience. We’ve already shot about half of it and we’re very excited about how the movie is unfolding.”
Private funding by Angelo is being supplemented by the Image Media Farm Production House, producer Roger Williams, Canadian environmental philanthropist Dr. Rudy North, the BCIT Rivers Institute, Mountain Equipment Co-op and Blue Planet Links.
“There will be some fascinating personal dimensions to the project and, based on filming to date, we think it will be visually stunning,” continued Angelo. “The film project itself will have several different dimensions. In 2014, we intend to take it to a number of high-profile film festivals, after which it will have a theatrical release. Following that, there will be a TV version on a major network. In addition, there will be a related, high-quality river/water-related website that will be educational in nature, while also helping to promote the film.”
–Aaron Bible