“Dead Sea Guardians" at the Figge Art Museum -- March 5.
Sunday, March 5, 2 p.m.
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
Screening at Davenport's Figge Art Museum on March 5 and lauded by Asian Movie Pulse as a work "highlighting the situation in the Dead Sea in the most eloquent fashion," the 78-minute documentary Dead Sea Guardians serves as the final presentation in River Action's annual QC Environmental Film Series, with the film's Israel-based producer/directors Yoav Kleinman and Ido Glass participating as post-show reflection speakers via Zoom.
The Dead Sea, shared by Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians, is a unique salt-lake, known for its exceptional geographical, biological, and historical value, and is the lowest point on Earth. Tragically, the Dead Sea is drying up, causing widespread damage, including huge sinkholes, abandoned beaches and collapsing roads. Rather than being an act of nature, as Kleinman's and Glass' film explains, this situation is due to over-consumption and poor water management, and if action is not taken soon, very little of the Dead Sea will remain. In a region of ongoing conflict, troubled politics, and destructive economics, natural resources have been exhausted and are urgently signaling their demise. To save the Dead Sea, the surrounding countries must work together.
Consequently, in the documentary, three people – a Jordanian, an Israeli and a Palestinian - feel they cannot just stand by and do nothing. They instead decide on taking part in a heroic act: an unprecedented, extremely dangerous SWIM across the Dead Sea, from Jordan to Israel, that will draw the world’s attention to the plight of the vanishing Sea. With the documentary screening co-hosted by the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities, Dead Sea Guardians tells a story that can only happen now, when everyone and everything has been brought to their knees – the dying Sea, the water deprived countries, and the people who live along its shores.
Winner of the 2022 Religions for Peace International Award from the Religion Today Film Festival, as well as Special Jury Mention from last year's Riviera International Film Festival, Dead Sea Guardians also enjoyed well-received screenings at more than a dozen additional film festivals in 2022, among them the Rochester Jewish Film Festival, the Ann Arbor Jewish Film Festival, the Chicago Jewish Film Festival, and New Zealand's Documentary Edge International Film Festival.
Dead Sea Guardians will be screened in the Figge Art Museum's John Deere Auditorium on March 5, admission to the 2 p.m. showing is $5, and more information on the QC Environmental Film Series is available by calling (563)322-2969 and visiting RiverAction.org/filmseries.
