White Water, Black Gold

White Water, Black Gold from 2011, directed by David Lavallee and featuring the Canadian anthropologist, Wade Davis, is a documentary film that spins an engaging narrative about an issue of global relevance: water scarcity and its lethal nexus with one of the world's largest oil industry - the Alberta Tar Sands, located in Canada.

The documentary takes the viewers on a sweeping journey that begins from the Great Canadian Rockies, known for their pristine, glacier-fed streams. These waters flow down and form a significant part of North America’s primary water reserves, before finally procuring at the oil sands. This journey’s preliminary focus is on addressing the controversy surrounding the water resources, the process of harnessing it, and the increasing demands and consequents effects on the environment and ecosystem.

Wade Davis, the film’s protagonist, ethnobotanist, and renowned author, notably hailed for his work regarding indigenous cultures, takes on the task of leading viewers through this fascinating yet daunting journey. His association with the works concerning the conservation of culture and environment lends a veracious and knowledgeable perspective to the discourse. Davis meticulously unveils the environmental, economic, and social implications that are tied to our dependence on fossil fuels, specifically focusing on the Alberta Tar Sands.

Oil sands, also known as tar sands, are a mixture of sand, clay, water, and bitumen (a heavy, thick form of crude oil). The filmmaker takes the audience towards understanding the process of extracting oil from these sands, which is incredibly resource and energy-intensive and is surrounded by environmental controversies. Whistle-blower testimonies, interviews with locals, conversations with key industry insiders, frontline workers, and environmental crusaders are cleverly weaved into the narrative that delivers a powerfully enriched storyline.

In his pursuits, Davis finds himself in an incandescent labyrinth of paradoxes that revolve around the primary theme– water. On the one hand, water is quintessential for life, for agriculture, for communities, and on the other hand, water is being used to flare up the oil industry, an industry notorious for its carbon emissions, thus further aggravating the current environmental crisis.

As Davis ventures deeper into this ominous paradox, the viewers are introduced to the raw and sinister facets of the dependency of North America's water supply on the dwindling glaciers and their complex correlation with the Tar Sands. Using clever snapshots of human life, industry operations, and natural systems and cycles, the film paints a vivid picture of the direct and indirect consequences of our ever-increasing, relentless pursuit of fossil fuels.

The documentary also understatedly handles the social impact of such operations, showing how the people, especially the indigenous communities, are affected by the shifting dynamics of their environment. It raises important questions about sustainability, environmental ethics, corporate influence over resources, and the adverse impacts on communities and the local wildlife.

Yet, White Water, Black Gold is not just a tale of gloomy predictions. It is also riddled with undertones of solutions and alternatives. As Davis maneuvers his way through unchartered territories, he also stresses the importance of renewable energy resources, hinting at the potential of sunlight, wind, and water to help us break free from the chains of fossil fuels.

Overall, White Water, Black Gold is a cautionary tale about inspiration and despair, of hope and crisis, that might appear as a regional concern due to its setting in Canada, but eventually reveals itself as a global issue. It provides a remarkably insightful account into one of the most compelling debates of our time: the battle between water and oil. The movie is an earnest endeavour at creating awareness about the interconnectedness of life, the environment, and the fragility of our existence in the face of unsustainable economic models. It effectively stirs contemplation, provides food for thought, and urges viewers to rethink their relationships with natural resources, especially water and energy.