Tucson, Arizona - March 21, 2012 - Seeking Water From the Sun, a thirty minute documentary, explores a scientific effort to resolve a dilemma of basic human need – clean water. It is a human story of the drama of science and the reality of life on the Navajo Nation, depicting the precious nature with which water is conserved and respected by Navajo families, many of whom go to great lengths to get water in order to remain on the lands of their choosing. This special program will premiere on Earth Day 2012, Sunday, April 22nd at 6 p.m. on PBS-HD 6.
Seeking Water From the Sun is a production of Arizona Public Media, produced by Dustinn Craig and Tom Kleespie in association with the UA Renewable Energy Network, UA College of Engineering, and Bureau of Reclamation, and input and cooperation from various Navajo Nation Chapters, community members, and agencies such as the Division of Water Resources, the Navajo Division of Natural Resources, and Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency. This documentary is narrated by Norman Patrick Brown with musical score by Mary Redhouse. This program was made possible in part by a Pacific Mountain Network Program Enhancement Grant supporting regional production that benefits and interests its member stations. Additional funding was provided by Desert Program Partners.
About the Documentary:
University of Arizona scientists and the Bureau of Reclamation took on the project of designing and building a prototype solar solution to purify water “off the grid” by using the sun. This story follows their trials and tribulations as they design and build a solar powered water distillation prototype, the first step of a plan to purify ground water for easier access to the Navajo people and their livestock.
Every few days Navajo Rosie Sekayumptewa drives almost 45 miles roundtrip to haul water from a dependable communal well. Expensive ‘water hauling’ is an essential way of life on the Navajo Nation. Rosie fills two 55 gallon containers to cover her family’s basic water needs. Simple things that most of us take for granted–bathing, cooking, drinking are done with a fraction of normal consumption. At one time she had a thriving garden that has gone fallow for lack of accessible water. Like many, her life revolves around water hauling. Today, many are looking to science and technology to help solve this problem.
The massive Navajo Nation covers 24,000 square miles across three states, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, and is home to more than 175,000 Navajos living on the largest reservation-based native nation within the United States. The Navajo agricultural lifestyle, which requires sun and water, is threatened as they face a severe shortage of water for drinking, gardening, and for livestock. Some of the water issues are rooted in the natural geology of their land. Most of the groundwater on the Nation is supplied through a salt cavern, producing water with high levels of salinity and other particulates that make it impossible to drink.
In spite of its size, the Nation lags far behind in terms of infrastructure and technology – eighty-eight percent of the reservation is without telephone service and many areas do not have electricity. Additionally, almost forty percent of the population does not have access to water depending on their location and quality of the water in their local area.
About Dustinn Craig: Dustinn Craig, Navajo/White Mountain Apache, is a multimedia producer and director. Craig grew up in Arizona, living in White River on the Fort Apache Reservation and later in Window Rock on the Navajo Reservation. As a teenager, Craig began making skateboarding videos of himself and his friends. But with fatherhood arriving early, he decided to create "something I hoped my kids would see and watch some day." This led to his short film I Belong to This, a personal documentary in the 2003 PBS documentary series Matters of Race. In 2005 he was awarded the National Video Resources Media Artists Fellowship for a documentary on skateboarding at Fort Apache, Ride through Genocide (working title). Craig has produced commissions from various cultural institutions and the 2009 PBS series We Shall Remain, working in high-definition format.
About Tom Kleespie: Tom Kleespie is Senior Producer, Special Projects at Arizona Public Media. He's traveled the deserts of the world for 19 seasons for his work on The Desert Speaks, airing on over 300 PBS stations nationally and the winner of multiple regional and national awards, including 24 Rocky Mountain Emmy® Awards. Kleespie also produced Together We Heal, Unforgettable: The Korean War, Barrios and Barriers, Phoenix Mars Mission: Ashes to Ice and the follow-up program, Phoenix Mars Mission: Onto to Ice, Southwestern Gems: Our Desert National Parks and the Tucson Remembers series which included Tucson Remembers: The War Years, Tucson Remembers: The Battle for Europe, and Tucson Remembers: War in the Pacific and A Show of Courage. Kleespie, a Tucson native, joined KUAT-TV 35 years ago as a member of the student production crew. Four years later, he became a full-time studio supervisor. He also did a four-year stint directing Arizona Illustrated, was a KUAT membership pledge producer, and worked for two years producing and directing for South Dakota Public Television.
About Norman Patrick Brown: Originally from Chinle, Arizona on the Navajo Nation, Norman Patrick Brown is a professional filmmaker, producer, actor and writer. His film roles include principle roles as an actor in Raising Arizona (1987), as Sgt. Begaye in Black Day, Blue Night (1994), as Pvt. Henry in The Thin Red Line (1999) and as “Bear” in The Doe Boy (2003.) He has been a cultural consultant for Hollywood productions and projects. His passion is creating films for his Navajo people in their own language. In 1998, he wrote, directed and produced, Awakening, the first Navajo language film written and directed by a Navajo for Navajos in conjunction with the docudrama, The Beauty Way of Life. His second critically acclaimed Navajo language film, Horse Song in 2000 was followed by Rez Hope in 2005. Currently in production, The Rainbow Boy, written, directed and produced by Norman, is a film about the ancient Navajo Warrior, Eagle Catcher.
About Mary Redhouse: Mary Redhouse is member of the Dine’ (Navajo tribe). She has a Native American Music Award and Grammy nomination for her work on the R. Carlos Nakai Quartet’s Canyon Records release People of Peace. She works as a soloist or with the Canyon Records artists: R. Carlos Nakai Quartet, the William Eaton Ensemble, the Redhouse Family Jazz Band, and Ananeah. She also works with the Larry Redhouse Trio and saxophonist Oliver Lake. Mary is a versatile vocalist, Native flutist, electric bassist, guitarist, and keyboardist. She calls her vocal style “eco-spiritual” because it blends native chants, bird and animal calls, and multi-octave scat lines. Her guitar playing is influenced by Latin jazz, bluegrass and folk.
About the Pacific Mountain Network: The Pacific Mountain Network was chartered in 1978 as one of four major regional public television networks to facilitate the full development of public television in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific states by providing regional instructional, cultural and enrichment sources for member stations, interconnection services, and other activities deemed to be in the members’ interests. The focus and mission of the Pacific Mountain Network (PMN) is to employ its assets to advance the interests of member stations.
In 2007, PMN initiated an annual competitive PMN “Enhancement Grant” award project. The purpose of the grant is to support or enhance a PMN member station's regional broadcast/electronic media production or in-service training activity that is of special benefit and interest to PMN member stations.
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