SLO FILM FEST 2021 INTERVIEWS: Brittany App talks about transitioning from photographer to documentarian on WHERE THERE ONCE WAS WATER

Brittany App’s documentary WHERE THERE ONCE WAS WATER tells a story about water. A documentary centered on solutions, the film takes a look at the driest of places – California and the Southwest USA – and the deepest of spaces – our inner worlds. Looking at the damning consequences of over-damning, and the individual efforts of people to supply water – literally a lifeline – to less advantaged communities and individuals, it generously presents an invitation to change our perspective and heal our relationship with water … one watershed, one meal, one raindrop, at a time.

Bringing the water to where it ain’t. (WHERE THERE ONCE WAS WATER)

There is a reason that we have had multiple documentaries looking at our nation being on the cusp of a water-supply crisis: because we are. Full stop. And those films can take a Chicken Little “the sky is falling tone” or they can lean heavy into the academic facts and figures – which as we know: “don’t lie.” What sets App’s directorial debut apart is the lack of recrimination in her approach. The film is welcoming, while it delivers its hard, cold, and dry facts. Her voice isn’t just heard in the filmmaking, it’s literally heard in the voice over narration, and what results is a loving plea for us to take the issue seriously while she reminds us of how vital our personal relationship with water actually is – beyond what we previously thought was simply obvious.

Brittany App trying to find where it went. (WHERE THERE ONCE WAS WATER)

In the interview (which full-disclosure: is a love fest because I have worked with Brittany as one of the photographers for the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival the past couple years and frankly, I could not be more of a fan personally) we talk about the journey of making her first film, which grew out of a photo project. She discusses how she “learned by doing” Brittany also talks about how she zeroed in on what was the most important aspect of the topic for her, as well as the “painful process” of doing test screenings which forced her to tear the film apart and put it back together.