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Sustainable Nation

Sustainable Nation, the new hour-long documentary from Imagination Productions, follows three individuals who are doing their part to bring sustainable water solutions to an increasingly thirsty planet.

Using solutions developed in water-poor Israel, they are working to change the status quo of a world where one in 10 people lacks access to safe drinking water.

  • Micah Smith
    Director
  • Rebecca Shore
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Environment, Water, Technology, Israel
  • Runtime:
    60 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 31, 2018
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Israel
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    HD 1920x1080
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:2.35
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • tiNai Ecofilm Festival
    Chennai
    India
    March 21, 2019
    Best Foreign Feature Ecodocumentary
  • Canada International Film Festival
    Vancouver
    Canada
    April 16, 2019
    Rising Star Award
  • New Zealand Mountain Film Festival
    Queenstown
    New Zealand
    July 6, 2019
    Best Environmental Film
  • Rhode Island International Film Festival
    Newport
    United States
    August 11, 2019
    Green Planet Award
  • Agrofilm International Film Festival
    Bratislava
    Slovakia
    October 3, 2019
    Osiris FAO Award
  • LifeArt Film Festival
    Athens
    Greece
    Best Humanitarian Film
Distribution Information
  • Imagination Productions
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
Director Biography - Micah Smith

Micah Smith is an award winning director of feature-length documentaries, short films and web series. His films have been screened in over 40 festivals on five continents, and his shorts and web-series at over 70 festivals. Smith graduated from the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

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Director Statement

The year was 1989, and I remember sitting in my 4th grade class, listening to our homeroom teacher teaching us about the drought in California and the need to conserve water. While the drought subsided a few years later and the water-saving methods we had learned became unnecessary, I would never forget what I really learned that day: every individual has a responsibility to protect the environment, and even the smallest acts can make a difference.

Nearly 30 years later, the global water crisis has grown more severe. One in nine people lack access to safe water. The World Health Organization estimates that by 2025 half of the global population will be facing water scarcity. One million people die every year due to water, sanitation and hygiene-related disease.

When my producers and I began this project several years ago, we certainly wanted to make a film that spread awareness about the water crisis, but ultimately we wanted to focus on solutions and give audiences hope that we truly can solve this issue. As we began our research, there was one statistic that truly blew me away: Israel leads the world in wastewater recycling, reusing more than 80% of its wastewater, with the next closest country being Spain at 20%. Following up on this we found that in a country that is mainly desert, and after years of drought in the 1980’s and 90’s, Israel has become a water exporter. Over the course of just a few decades, Israelis developed a unique social consciousness around water conservation that has resulted in homegrown solutions that are now used around the world. This is the kind of transformation we dream of for the global community. When it comes to water, Israelis are incredible role models for how individuals around the world can have an impact.

It is our hope that by sharing the stories and insights of the people in this small country, our film can have an impact on the global water crisis. While Sustainable Nation tells the stories of just a few people working on issues of water scarcity, the film is ultimately meant to teach the same lesson I learned in 4th grade: every individual has a responsibility to protect the environment, and even the smallest acts can make a difference.