The Valley and the Lake
A four-part film odyssey – Conflict and hope in California’s Central Valley, breadbasket of the world and the most human-altered landscape on the planet
As we journey the length of the San Joaquin River, one question will not go away. Is it possible that the fate of this one river in the most productive agricultural region in the world, California’s Central Valley, offers a chance to restore the historical balance between nature and the mark of humans on the land?
What was once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River disappeared more than100 years ago due to water diversion and land reclamation for agriculture. As we meet a series of people living in and around the old lake bed, Tulare – The Phantom Lake raises sometimes unsettling, unresolved questions about what was gained and what was lost in the process.
50 min.
Running Time
California, USA
Location
2022
Year
English, Spanish, Wukchumni
Language
On the land in the foothills above California’s Central Valley, we join Wukchumni basket weavers, Jennifer Malone and her mother, Marie Wilcox, as they gather basket materials and weave baskets with friends and family. Along the way there are lessons to be learned about personal accomplishment, care for the earth, and cultural resilience.
There are only two kinds of water in the world, surface water that comes from the sky and the water beneath our feet, often called “groundwater.” With drought spreading across the earth, one might well ask, is there enough groundwater to balance the needs of our cities and our farms and still preserve the natural world around us.
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Christopher Beaver
+1 (415) 637 6116
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