Together the photographer Edward Burtynsky and the filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal have delivered one of the more visually impressive documentaries of the last years. Baichwal portrayed Burtynsky and his extraordinary images in her 2006 feature documentary MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES. Her latest film is dedicated to humans relationship with water – the element without which neither individuals nor society could survive. The filmmaker and photographer film the gushing water at China’s Xiolangdi Dam, the dry Colorado River Delta, a “water ballet” in Las Vegas, and a step well in India. WATERMARK brings together 20 different stories from China to Mexico, from Iceland to India, from Germany to Canada, from Bangladesh to the USA – and portrays the tension between industry and nature, dependency and exploitation, spirituality and will to survive. The film’s remarkable images and landscapes show both familiar and unfamiliar living environments and amazing structures in apparent chaos. Cinematographer Nicholas de Pencier joined the duo and his amazing high-definition visuals are on par with the stunning photographs delivered by Burtynsky. The film’s strongest moments require no narration since the images themselves reveal the strength and fragility of earth’s most valuable resource.

Jens Mayer