Poppy Wildman dives into this 'bold, beautiful and profoundly moving' documentary, coming to Mammoth - A Climate Action Cinema this Saturday 15 February....
‘Rave on for the Avon’ is a bold, beautiful and profoundly moving film documenting a team of Bristolians’ campaign to confront the issue of sewage in our waterways.
For the past couple of years, it has been hard to ignore the constant news that water companies are continuing to spill sewage into our waterways at an alarming rate, endangering public and ecological health. This is the issue driving the film, as it follows the tireless work of three remarkable young women - Eva, Becca and Em - as they try to confront those in power to make change and to create a healthy river.
‘The Conham Bathing Group’, as they are known, take it upon themselves to collect samples from the river to be tested for bacteria, pH levels and other indicators of water health. Unsurprisingly, the water is often in particularly bad shape, with regular ‘sewage alerts’. While it may sometimes make the bathers sick, it doesn’t seem to dampen their enthusiasm for swimming in it too much.
While this story of advocacy by these three women may be the raison d’être of the film, it is not the driving force of the narrative. This instead comes from the beautiful, deeply personal glimpses into the stories of the individuals who use the bathing site, which director Charlotte Sawyers does so well to present with such deep humanity. The site is used by a whole array of bathers, from children splashing around with their parents in the summertime, to those like Frank, who is unable to afford heating at home, but still continues to swim each day, all year round in support of his mental health.
While each person in the film comes to swim for their own personal reasons, whether that be the women who find the fresh, cool water eases their health problems, or the group of men practising Qi Gong, what is apparent is that being in the water for each person brings a deep emotional reaction. For anyone who has been wild swimming, this is something that can surely be related to; that intense feeling of liberation, of connection, of being truly alive.
This is made all the more powerful by the beautiful visuals; one bather exclaims half jokingly as he swims in the river that “it’s basically like the Amazon”, and as the camera pans along the flowing river, through the dense, vibrant trees, you would be forgiven for believing he might be right. Or if not the Amazon, certainly somewhere a far cry from the city housing estate that the camera zooms out to reveal just behind.
And perhaps after all this bather is not wrong; like the Amazon, the river Avon is in danger of destruction, of being ecologically lost for the sake of making profits for big companies at the expense of losing the very life force that sustains us as human beings. And that is what makes this film so difficult to watch; while the clips of laughter and joy and of breathtaking natural beauty make this documentary so wonderful and heartwarming, the image I am left with is the Mayor rejecting the Bather’s petition to remove a bylaw that would allow them to protect the river. They rejected it despite 5,000 local signatures. Despite cross party support (“even the Tory guy gave a lovely speech”). Despite the nonsensical nature of its existence.
The frustration that this leaves us with as viewers is despairing, a further reminder of the lack of faith some many of us feel with the bureaucracy and leadership of our governments. And this is why this film is so important; it is not a story, but a call to action. What that action should be is difficult to decipher, as even the articulate and well-supported leaders of this campaign fail - at least at this point in time - to convince the council to take any meaningful steps to protect our waterways.
However, despite this frustration and despair, it is hard not to also feel hopeful at the end of the film, as we watch Meg, a young woman, marry the Avon as part of really beautiful stunt to attract attention to the cause, floating along the river in her wedding dress and veil, like a surreal dream-like folk tale. Meg represents the community who love the Avon, like the eccentric and wonderful “Mermaid of the Avon”, Lindsey, who we see swim across the Bristol Channel in her mermaid tail (no small feat for the core muscles, I am sure!), buoyed on by hoards of children enthusiastically shouting ‘no more poo’. Just like also the hundreds of people taking action by simply refusing to take heed to the ‘swimming is prohibited’ signs, and enjoying the power of bathing in the Avon regardless; as one woman notes, just swimming there feels like a rebellion, and I too cannot help but agree.
While for Eva, Becca and Em it may be a long struggle yet to clean up our waterways, this film is ultimately a highly enjoyable, deeply powerful and massively important exploration of our human drive to protect nature. And although it may be a distinctly local look at Bristol, it also cannot help but feel universal; here too in Nottingham, the ‘Motion of the Ocean’ campaign saw Nottingham City Council adopt the recommended moves to protect our oceans and waterways with the Ocean Conservation Trust’s ‘source to sea’ approach, and watching this film will surely drive more such change in our own community.
More information about Rave on for the Avon and further screenings here
Trailer:
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