Illustration by Afshin Sabouki

This year, the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) will present three documentaries that capture life as it happens in and around water. Yakona, Walking Underwater and Faith Connections all explore the histories, cultures and stories that surround one of life’s most precious resources.

Yakona co-directors and photographers Paul Collins and Anlo Sepulveda’s personal relationship with the San Marcos River in Texas inspired them to take the camera underwater and document the history of the river, from the river’s perspective.

“[Yakona] gives the river a voice. It’s about the relationships the river has with the people around it,” says Sepulveda.

After spending time snorkeling in the river, Sepulveda started photographing with an underwater camera and was impressed by the definition of the images.

“[The idea for the film] started with images. The photographs were more realistic than my own eye,” he says.

Using superimposition, detailed close-ups, slow motion and time-lapse sequences, Collins and Sepulveda create vivid and dynamic images of the plants and animals that live beneath the water’s surface and along the river.

While Yakona journeys through the river’s crystal clear waters, it also considers how human activity has impacted it. Throughout the film, vibrant photographs of the river’s ecosystem are contrasted with images and sound that depict the disruptiveness of human activity happening in and near the river.

Without narration or interviews, and minimal dialogue, the film contemplates the destructive relationships we often form with our natural environment. Both Collins and Sepulveda feel Yakona touches on environmental politics without delivering an explicit message.

“[The river] has a long history of being exploited for recreation. We wanted to show how we are connected emotionally and spiritually to the river, and for audiences to be inspired by that and want to protect the river and keep it beautiful,” Collins says.

Under the sea

In Walking Underwater Polish director Eliza Kubarska documents not only the natural beauty that exists underwater, but also the stories of the Badjao people who spend most of their life in the sea.

Kubarska first traveled to Borneo in 2010. Accompanied by a translator, she spent time in the homes of Badjao families and soon learnt about the rare and dangerous practice of compression diving.

“When you see what the Badjao do underwater, you can’t just pass by and not think about it. It is incredible. They have amazing skills,” says Kubarska.

The film follows Sari and his uncle, Alexan, who teaches him diving and fishing techniques. With stunning cinematography both out of the water and beneath its surface, the film presents a seemingly magical and mythical underwater world.

At the same time, the film shows the viewer that the Badjao community exists side by side with another, very different, world.

“Very close to these Badjao villages, there is modern tourism,” says Kubarska. “The Badjao see rich people passing by everyday, but their worlds are separate. They do not meet. No one talks to each other.”

In Faith Connections, Hatha Yogi Baba poses by the sacred waters where millions of pilgrims gather. | Photo courtesy of Martin Dee

The cynical comments of a local Badjao to Sari may best summarize the tensions between the culture of the Badjao people and modern tourism and development: ‘You’d be better off working in the resort.’

Like Yakona, Walking Underwater does not include narration or interviews. As Kubarska points out, the film is meant to be observational.

“It is a mission to show life from Badjao point of view, and to make people think a little more, and to know about Badjao,” she says.

The holy dip

Indian filmmaker Pan Nalin brings us closer to the spiritual beliefs that surround water. In Faith Connections, we travel to Kumbh Mela, where an estimated four to five million Hindu pilgrims take a holy dip in what is believed to be the sacred waters of three conjoining rivers.

Nalin saw many documentary films on Kumbh Mela, but felt they were limited in their representation, often focused on statistics or exoticizing Sadhus (religious ascetics), pilgrims and the religious rituals that are performed at the event.

“[These films] had no human stories. They were not capturing the aura of energy that is there. For me, it was an emotional experience,” he says.

Within 48 hours of being at Kumbh Mela, Nalin decided to record the captivating stories he was witnessing, and began following certain people over the course of several days. At the end of each day of filming, Nalin and his team tried to predict what might happen with each character and what locations they might find them at.

Nalin explains that the discovery of these stories was organic and often coincidental. Rather than sensationalize the size of the gathering, Nalin explores what the holy dip might mean for a yogi or a runaway child or two parents frantically searching for their lost child.

In Faith Connections, Nalin has documented Kumbh Mela in an original way, capturing the complexity and strength of each individual’s faith, whether religious or not.

“In the same way we need oxygen or water, we need to believe in something,” says Nalin.

The 2014 Vancouver International Film Festival runs from Sept. 25–Oct. 10. For more information, visit www.viff.org.