The mountains of the southern tip of the South American continent take visitors to a journey back in time: its rivers and streams flow towards the ocean as they did in pre-industrial times, filled with pure water. Science has a privileged real-scale lab in Tierra del Fuego to study a unique ecosystem, in which water is the key factor that stores the ancestral secrets of life on Earth.

10 years after the documentary shot by Isabel Coixet, the Aral Sea continues to be a paradigm of the errors that trigger an environmental disaster with terrible humanitarian consequences. Recovery plans have provided some results, but the full recovery of the large Asian lake is far from being accomplished.

In September 2009, the We Are Water Foundation presented the documentary Aral, the lost sea at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. This project was the result of the Foundation’s proposal to filmmaker Isabel Coixet: to create a documentary that would feature the importance of water in the lives of people, in economy and in the environmental balance. The production by the Spanish film director showed the terrible reality of a hitherto little-known international man-made disaster.

Having safe latrines is essential to support any development strategy. It is vital for the health and to avoid diseases due to fecal contamination. It is the key factor to eradicate open defecation and to provide dignity and safety to women. These are the challenges of SDG 6 highlighted on World Toilet Day. The Foundation’s projects show that every culture, every situation requires specific solutions.

The construction of buildings and cities cannot manage without water. The Smart Water initiative moves forward and expands towards the Smart Building industry: the Smart Water, Smart Building sessions. The We Are Water Foundation gathered leading experts from the world of architecture and design in Mexico City with the aim of presenting and sharing ideas to foster a debate that can be passed on to society as a whole.

Not only meteorological forecasts are necessary. Moving forward in the knowledge of the social and economic factors that shape the human risks in floods is essential to reduce the damage. The climate crisis poses a pressing management challenge.

What do you need to say about climate? How does it affect your community? And the world? Bring light to all these problems you know exist and provide us your vision. In this edition of the We Art Water Film Festival, we have added the climate crisis we are experiencing to the theme of access to water and sanitation. The world needs what your vision can provide. Tell it in the words of cinema!

In the progress towards global sustainability, the access to water and sanitation plays a double role: it is at the same time a tool and a goal of the solutions. From agriculture to the domestic supply, it provides essential information to attain SDG 6. To achieve it, governments and companies need to take into account the enormous existing asymmetries and ensure that no one is left behind.

The overexploitation of aquifers is worsening the problems caused by the natural pollution of water in many areas with hydric stress. The levels of fluoride, arsenic and other chemical compounds that are harmful to health affect millions of people all around the world, causing a very serious health issue. This is the case described by the Mexican short film Necesidad que mata (A need that kills), finalist of the We Art Water Film Festival 3.