DIXON, IOWA (September 9, 2024) — Emmy award-winning filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films turned their lens on the Upper Mississippi watershed in Iowa and Illinois for their new documentary Moved by Waters. The film program will be presented on Saturday, September 14, 2:30PM, at the Wapsi River Environmental Education Center, 31555 52nd Ave, Dixon, Iowa. The Rundle’s Emmy award-winning short documentary Over and Under: Wildlife Crossings and their Emmy-nominated short documentary Places to be Wild will also screen, followed by a “Talk Back” with the filmmakers and Naturalist Dave Murcia, who is featured in the film. The program is free to the public and hosted by the Wapsi River Environmental Education Center.
What unites us is more important than what divides us. Moved by Waters is an uplifting and inspirational new documentary that depicts collaborative projects involving organizations and diverse groups of students, teachers, artists, farmers, and volunteers of all ages. Setting aside political or other differences, all are working toward improving the quality of water in the Upper Mississippi Watershed.
Did you know a piece of trash discarded in a Dixon, Iowa neighborhood can end up in the Gulf of Mexico? How is water quality monitored and evaluated? Is water pollution an urban or rural challenge? How does water quality affect wildlife and their habitat? We all need water that is clean and safe to drink, and the people and projects in Moved by Waters model a way forward that benefits people, and the environment.
“The Moved by Waters story is the opposite of the national narrative. The national narrative tells us that Americans are too divided politically to work together on anything,” said director-writer Kelly Rundle of Fourth Wall Films. “The diverse groups and individuals we met and talked to while making this film showed us the opposite.”
“Ultimately, we need clean water to survive,” says Amy Kay in the film. “Not to be too doomsday-esque, but if we can’t work together for something that we need to survive, we’re in big trouble.” Kay is the Clean Water Manager for the City of Davenport.
“Every creature great or small has an intrinsic, innate value in and of itself. Mother Nature doesn’t need us, but we need Mother Nature,” Dave Murcia said in the film. “So when it comes down to clean water specifically we are the one animal on this planet that pollutes its own environment.”
“When we get to talk conservation and water quality, I get real excited, because it’s such an area that has changed in my lifetime and I’ve been a part of it,” says Davenport, Iowa farmer Robb Ewoldt in the film. Ewoldt is the former president of the Iowa Soybean Association.
“I’m a sixth-generation farmer,” Mike Paustian said during his interview for the film. “My grandfather and my father spent a lot of time trying to make improvements to the farm and minimize the impact on the environment. And now it’s my turn to care for the farm and make sure it’s in good shape for the next generation.”
Moved by Waters was made possible by a grant from Roger Ross Gipple.
The Wapsi River Environmental Education Center provides multiple uses, with an emphasis on resource protection and environmental education. For more information, visit scottcountyiowa.gov/conservation/wapsi.
Fourth Wall Films is a four-time regional Emmy award-winning independent media production company formerly located in Los Angeles, California, and now based in Moline, Illinois. For more information, visit FourthWallFilms.com.
