This excellent film is not be be missed, and if you have not seen it yet, here is your opportunity. There will also be a panel for questions and answers with the main stars, Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, Dr. Robert Knight and Michelle Colson.
Emmy award-winning film by a UF graduate focusing lens on Florida’s struggling springs will premiere for students and the public at the University of Florida Feb. 8
MIAMI (Jan. 10) – The Emmy Award winning documentary The Fellowship of the Springs, which sheds light on the growing fragility of Florida’s freshwater springs, will be screened for free at the Reitz Union Auditorium Feb. 8 at 5:30 pm.
The screening follows the film’s statewide television premiere on PBS stations around Florida, and comes in the midst of a successful, award-winning international film festival run.
“The Fellowship of the Springs”, directed and produced by Emmy-award winning filmmaker and UF graduate Oscar Corral (‘96), tells the story of the struggle to preserve the state’s 1,000+ artesian springs. The fight pits resident activists and independent scientists against major industries and the state agencies that regulate them. The film features several current and former leaders including Jeb Bush, Nikki Fried, and Lee Constantine, as well as former government whistleblower scientist Thomas Greenhalgh. A panel discussion will follow the screening, which is sponsored in part by the UF School of Journalism and Communications.
Florida is home to the world’s biggest and largest concentration of natural springs. They dot central and northern Florida, roughly from Orlando to Pensacola. The state’s first tourist destination, the springs draw hundreds of thousands of visitors annually – many of them Floridians.
But their future is in peril as the state’s population continues to climb, resulting in booming development, increases in agriculture, more water bottling, and phosphate mining – all culprits of the forces degrading the springs. One particular focus of the film is the fight by activists to prevent Nestle from tapping yet another spring in Florida, Ginnie Springs, for its bottled water business.
A veteran journalist and native Floridian, Corral spent two years tracking the plight of the springs.
“I set out to make a film about the beauty and wonder that define the springs. But along the way, I discovered that the springs are in a struggle for survival,” Corral said. “What’s happening to them is a story of community and conflict. It’s a fight to strike a balance between the wants of corporations, and the needs of nature to keep the springs alive.”
The film’s social media: For more information, contact CecilePR at 305.842.7523 or Cecile@CecilePR.com
