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Grassroots River Avon documentary announces online premiere
A multi-award winning documentary about a female-led grassroots campaign to clean up Bristol’s waterways will be made available to stream online for the first time.
Rave on for the Avon captured the joy, frustration and creativity at the heart of the Conham Bathing group’s determined efforts to make their local river safe for swimming.
It has also captured hearts around the world, embarking on its first international tour last year during which it was seen by nearly 5,000 people from Cornwall to Colombia.
The film was shown at Bristol Aquarium last year at the culmination of its international tour and as part of a River Joy exhibition of artwork which included the Thriving Avon Charter that encapsulates the river’s rights and which the group plan to present to the council – photo: Robert Browne
It won critical acclaim including a four star review in the Guardian for the urgency of its message, that only 14 per cent of rivers in the UK are in good ecological health, combined with the ‘Bristol spirit’ present in the campaign actions, from raving synchronised swimmers to a poet marrying the river, giant puppets and a mermaid towing an inflatable poo across the Bristol Channel.
And on Thursday, February 19 global viewers will be given their first chance to watch the film online when it is made available for 24 hours by Surfers Against Sewage.
The premiere is hosted by surfwear brand Finisterre, and will be followed by a livestreamed Q&A with the film’s director Charlotte Sawyer, campaigner and ecologist Eva Perrin and Kirsty Davies from Surfers Against Sewage from their flagship store in St Agnes, Cornwall.
Filmmaker Charlotte Sawyer and director Aggie Nyagari-Salt are two of dozens of freshwater swimmers that use the river for leisure, nature connection and health benefits – photo: Charlotte Sawyer
The film is connected to the Surfers Against Sewage Protecting Wild Waters campaign which calls for 200 UK rivers to become Designated Bathing Areas by 2030. There are currently only 15 that hold this status.
The Conham Bathing group is continuing its campaign to improve and protect the river’s health by inviting signatures to the Thriving Avon Charter which they plan to present to Bristol City Council.
The Charter recognises the rights of the River Avon to be free from pollution, sustain life and biodiversity, and to be fed and nourished sustainably. It “reawakens our ancient responsibility as guardians, not consumers, of the waters that give us life,” the group say.
Register for the online screening of the documentary on Thursday, February 19 at eightysita.com/event-details-registration/online-premiere-screening-live-director-q-a
Find out more about the Thriving Avon Charter at conhambathing.co.uk/thriving-avon-charter
Main image: Louis Veillon
Read next:
- Is it time to radically reimagine rivers?
- ‘River joy’ exhibition celebrates triumphant campaign moment
- Unchecked ‘preventable pollution’ smothering Bristol rivers
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