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Uploaded: Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 9:24 AM
Sneak preview of water documentary offered Saturday
'Last Call at the Oasis' comes from producer of 'Inconvenient Truth'
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| A sneak preview of a documentary film warning of a looming global water shortage will be open to the public in a free showing in Menlo Park Saturday, April 21.
"Last Call at the Oasis" is a production of Participant Media, the change-minded company that produced "An Inconvenient Truth," "The Help," "Food, Inc.," "Charlie Wilson's War" and "Waiting for Superman."
The Beverly Hills production house is one of several social ventures launched by eBay billionaire-turned-philanthropist Jeff Skoll, who backs movies with the goal of provoking social change.
Skoll also chairs the Palo Alto-based Skoll Foundation, which seeks to back "social entrepreneurs and the innovators who help them solve the world's most pressing problems."
"Last Call at the Oasis," which opens in theaters May 4, argues there is a fast-growing global crisis in fresh water supply. Featuring environmental activist Erin Brockovich, filmmakers interview academic water experts as well as "social entrepreneurs" seeking to address water issues.
The film is directed by former Palo Alto area resident Jessica Yu, a Gunn High School graduate who won a 1997 Academy Award for her short documentary "Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien." O'Brien, a writer and poet who died in 1999 at 49, spent much of his life in an iron lung after contracting polio as a child.
Yu, now based in Los Angeles, has had numerous directing projects in film and television, including "Grey's Anatomy" and "The West Wing."
"Last Call at the Oasis" will be shown Saturday, April 21, at 7 p.m. at Trinity Church, 330 Ravenswood Ave., Menlo Park, kicking off the church's Earth Day celebrations.
Following the screening, which is free and open to the public, University of California, Berkeley, Professor of Integrative Biology Tyrone Hayes, who appears in the film, will lead a discussion with the audience.
For more information, go to the Trinity Church website.— Chris Kenrick Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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| Comments
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Posted by Retired Teacher, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Apr 18, 2012 at 9:41 am I'm looking forward to seeing this film at Trinity; Jessica Yu's films are always brilliant. By the way, she grew up in Los Altos Hills, not Palo Alto.
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Posted by stretch, a resident of another community, on Apr 18, 2012 at 2:17 pm Hopefully, this movie will make people think about wasting water. Too much of it runs down the gutter during over-watering, gets used to hose off driveways, instead of sweeping, countless car washes, even having the water run while brushing one's teeth. Oh, and don't forget over-population. Isn't there a baby boom again. Great. Pile 'em on Mother Earth and see how long the resources last!
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Posted by Joseph E. Davis, a resident of Woodside, on Apr 18, 2012 at 8:11 pm The "water shortage" is one of the most laughable environmental crises out there. Vast amounts of this resource fall on us every year for free. Only the government could so comprehensively mismanage the market for water so as to present the appearance of a shortage.
We have the technology to instantly solve whatever problem there is. It is called "the price system."
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Posted by Hmmm, a resident of East Palo Alto, on Apr 18, 2012 at 11:52 pm Mr. Davis - that's one of the problems, though - enough of it doesn't fall on everyone every day. That's why there's been widespread drought. I understand what you mean re the price system, but in some places, there's real lack.
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