New Screenings in Bakersfield, Pacific Grove
The award-winning documentary, “The Fight for Water: A Farm Worker Struggle”, was awarded another special award for Best Documentary, at the Viña de Oro Fresno International Film Festival which was held October 16 – 19, 2013, at the Historic Tower Theatre in Fresno, California. The film, which features a historic water march that spanned across the Westside of the California Central Valley to the San Luis Reservoir by farmers and their farm workers, screened October 19 as the closing film of the festival.
The documentary, which put a human face to the historic 2009 water crisis and the environmental decision that impacted a farm working community in the Westside of the California Central Valley, now moves on to Bakersfield, California, as the “Official Selection” at this year’s first ever Outside the Box Bakersfield Film Festival, which will be held November 8 – 10, 2013 at the Historic Fox Theatre. The film will screen at 1:50 pm on Friday, November 9.
The film will also screen in Pacific Grove, California as the “Official Selection” at this year’s International Monarch Film Festival, which will be held December 11 and 12, 2013.
The film, which was also nominated for Excellence in Filmmaking and was Winner Runner Up for Best Documentary in Cinematography and Runner Up for Best Documentary Political Film at the Action on Film International Film Festival, also screened internationally at the Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival, in Malaysia, and the Life Sciences Film Festival in the Czech Republic.
The film is truly an independent film. Juan Carlos Oseguera, who wrote, produced, edited and directed the film, is not associated with the California Latino Water Coalition, which was the most prominent organization behind the 2009 Water March, nor did he receive any funding from any political organization to make the film. This film is his sole vision and perspective. He is an alumni of San Francisco State University who has been a published film critic and has won awards and recognitions in writing, producing and directing.
Hollywood actor Paul Rodriguez, who helped organize the water march in the style of Cesar Chavez, is featured in the film for his activism in this cause. Major political figures from throughout the state, and community leaders representing the Fresno community, who stood in favor and against the water cause, also appear on the film. Arnold Schwarzenegger also makes an appearance.
The documentary features two Latino farmers, Joe Del Bosque and George Delgado, who describe how federal water measures contributed to fields going dry in the West Side of the California Central Valley in 2009 while refuges that protect a threatened fish received all of the water designated for them. This affected their community tremendously. Because of that, the governor had to declare the affected area a disaster and provide government-run food assistance for over two-hundred thousand farm working people who were displaced from their jobs.
Oseguera, 39, who was raised in the California Central Valley by parents who were migrant farmworkers, understood the struggle they were facing and set out to document the their plight as a lesson to be learned and as a voice to be heard. He wants viewers to understand the migrant farm workers and how they are a driving force to our economy. Yet in his quest to understand this water situation, he uncovers class, racial and environmental intricacies behind water access and distribution in California, and the ripple effect it has on all of us. It is an eye opening documentary that everyone must see.
For additional information about the film, the film festivals screenings visit:
Questions about the film contact filmunition@yahoo.com or call (209) 675-2988.
