Serendipity in Motion | SWF Hosts the World Water Film Festival
When the original venue for the 2026 Chicago Water Week screening event unexpectedly canceled just days before its scheduled date, Sweet Water Foundation stepped in to turn a potential setback into a fortuitous moment of welcome. On Monday, May 4, SWF opened the doors of the Civic Arts Church to host "Go with the Flow: Where the Water Grows"—a featured program produced in partnership with the World Water Film Festival (WWFF). What could have been a logistical crisis quickly became an expansive day of film, dialogue, and community connection inside the heart of The Common|Wealth campus.
The event brought together an extraordinary convergence of global and local water advocates, centering stories of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge, environmental justice, and community restoration. The curated screening lineup brought powerful global perspectives directly to the South Side. Featured short films included:
Dji Mansa ("Water Masters"): Documenting how the AFR’EAU organization leverages Indigenous knowledge and citizen science for moringa-based water treatment along Mali’s Niger River.
The Hōteo Sediment Reduction Project: Showing how Māori iwi and local landowners in Aotearoa New Zealand integrate mātauranga Māori (Māori worldview) with western science to restore the Hōteo River catchment
Plantando Raíces en Lago Uru Uru: Following Dayana Blanco Quiroga and the Uru Uru Team as they adapt ancestral Aymara ecological knowledge to restore a polluted Andean lake in Bolivia using native totora reeds.
A Garden in the Desert: Directed by incoming SWF RND Re-Search Intern and Human-in-Resident Mohamed Salem Mohamed Ali, exploring desert agricultural traditions, water harvesting, and community resilience in arid landscapes.
These shorts screened alongside UN Water’s Groundwater Explained: PFAS animation, regional films like Stella, Wisconsin, experimental 16mm art like Good Neighbors Care, and the award-winning feature How to Poison a Planet starring Mark Ruffalo.
Throughout the event, WWFF Founder Robert Strand guided the audience through the day’s agenda, emphasizing how storytelling and film can drive policy and action. The program also featured a deeply moving panel that connected grassroots advocacy directly to regional policy. Attendees heard from Michael and Nora Strande, who shared the emotional journey behind “Amara’s Law,” Minnesota’s groundbreaking ban on forever chemicals (PFAS) passed in honor of their late daughter and sister, Amara. They were joined by Debra Shore, former Regional Administrator for EPA Region 5 and former commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, who brought decades of environmental governance and regulatory perspective to the discussion.
Between film blocks, Sweet Water Foundation Executive Director Emmanuel Pratt led attendees on guided walking tours across the six-block Common|Wealth campus, demonstrating how regenerative urban ecology, neighborhood-scale water harvesting, and biodynamic agroecology operate on the South Side.
Conclusion: From Storytelling to Sustained Action
Ultimately, the May 4 gathering demonstrated that the true value of these convenings/events/programs lies in how they spark continuous action and deepen human connection. When global stories of water stewardship enter direct conversation with SWF's daily spatial practice, theoretical dialogue transforms into shared accountability.
This unexpected venue change did more than host a single day of cinema—it activated real-world relationships carried forward by real people working side by side. By opening its doors to the World Water Film Festival, Sweet Water Foundation reaffirmed that when communities cultivate global networks with deep intention, film and dialogue become living catalysts for localized environmental justice and long-term collective care.