{"id":18430,"date":"2022-07-13T09:00:21","date_gmt":"2022-07-13T13:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2022-07-14T09:27:28","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T13:27:28","slug":"river-invites-viewers-to-think-downstream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/river-invites-viewers-to-think-downstream\/","title":{"rendered":"River Invites Viewers to Think Downstream"},"content":{"rendered":"

River<\/span><\/i>, the latest collaboration between Jennifer Peedom, director, writer and co-producer and co-founder of Stranger Than Fiction, and John Smithson, producer and co-founder and creative director of Arrow Pictures, takes viewers on a sweeping visual and musical journey across the globe, showcasing some of the world\u2019s waterways and humanity\u2019s relationship with them.<\/span><\/p>\n

The film serves as a sort of follow-up to Peedom and the Australian Chamber Orchestra\u2019s 2017 documentary <\/span>Mountain<\/span><\/i>, which became the highest grossing Australian documentary in box-office history. After its phenomenal success, Peedom and the orchestra knew they wanted to make a similar film, and rivers seemed like the perfect natural feature to focus on.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMountains are not particularly susceptible to our harm in the way that rivers are,\u201d Peedom notes. \u201cIt really struck me that rivers have shaped humanity in ways that I had not fully understood when I embarked on this film. They are the thing that keeps us alive. Obviously, we couldn\u2019t live without fresh water. Yet, what we are doing to the world\u2019s rivers is pretty shocking.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When searching for a documentary concept, you need a central conflict. \u201cIn this case, the impact that we\u2019re having on the world\u2019s rivers\u2014which ultimately is shooting ourselves in the foot\u2014seemed like a really interesting conflict,\u201d Peedom says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Peedom and Smithson had been searching for a project they could work together on following their fruitful collaboration on the 2015 BAFTA-nominated documentary <\/span>Sherpa<\/span><\/i>. \u201cHe\u2019s got a lot of editorial rigor,\u201d Peedom says of Smithson. \u201cHe\u2019s got a really good story head. He really understands narrative structure, which is so important in documentary.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Smithson agrees that he\u2019s very story-driven, and Peedom\u2019s previous film <\/span>Mountain<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>River<\/span><\/i> are both \u201cvery different from films I\u2019ve normally done because they\u2019re that hybrid of amazing images, the music [and] the words. They really take you on an incredible visual and sound journey with a mixture of the music, the effects and the words.\u201d For him, it was a creative challenge, and one that he was more than willing to take up. \u201cIt just felt like she, dominantly a director, and me, a producer, worked really well together,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n

In particular, \u201cI really enjoyed [when] we would spend a lot of time discussing how to shape the film and give it a story arc and make it an immersive journey through space and time, spanning six continents, merging this incredible cinematography and brilliant archive,\u201d Smithson says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Good communication was essential for the making of <\/span>River<\/span><\/i>, as the very first day of preproduction was also the first day of Australia\u2019s first Covid-19 lockdown, which essentially prevented anyone from leaving or visiting the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we knew we couldn\u2019t go anywhere, we needed to bring people to us and work in a different way,\u201d Peedom says. They reached out to cinematographers around the world to access their libraries of footage, which they had either shot for themselves or for another project that didn\u2019t end up using them. They also commissioned shots specifically for the film from these cinematographers and sourced space photography to use in time lapses that demonstrate rivers\u2019 changes over time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were putting a lot of trust in a lot of people and working remotely,\u201d Peedom notes. \u201cI didn\u2019t go anywhere for the entire shoot. For a director, that\u2019s obviously not the ideal way to make a film, but there was something really great about that.\u201d One particular positive was \u201cI didn\u2019t burn any fly miles,\u201d something that runs parallel to the film\u2019s environmental stance. And \u201cpeople worked in their communities. People shot in their own backyards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the stunning visuals sourced from around the world, the music, too, played a pivotal role in the film. \u201cOften when you see a movie, the music\u2019s there, but it\u2019s beneath everything,\u201d Smithson says. \u201cAnd often really good music, you\u2019re almost not aware of it. Here, the music really is in the foreground. It\u2019s one of the key elements that drives the film along.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Richard Tognetti, artistic director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, composed music for <\/span>River<\/span><\/i> just as he did for <\/span>Mountain<\/span><\/i>. Several years ago, he had worked with Radiohead\u2019s Jonny Greenwood on a live performance piece called <\/span>Water<\/span><\/i>. \u201cThey performed it only a couple of times,\u201d Peedom notes. \u201cBut we were able to use elements of that amazing [piece].\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, Indigenous musician William Barton contributed to the film\u2019s score. <\/span>River<\/span><\/i> was shown to him, \u201cand he basically said, \u2018I\u2019d love to respond to this in the way that it made me feel,\u2019\u201d Peedom says. \u201cHe did a lot of improvisation, and it was really moving. It was a beautiful way to work. Inviting his honesty and authentic response to the story was great.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Through the combination of stunning aerial footage and sweeping musical numbers, Peedom and Smithson hope that viewers will begin to think about rivers in a different way. The documentary shows you \u201chow they got there, their importance, their fragility, their vital part of our life on the planet,\u201d Smithson notes.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most crucial messages of the film is that \u201c\u2018to think like a river means to dream downstream in time,\u2019 and this idea of being a good ancestor,\u201d Peedom says. \u201cOur actions in the present have a profound impact down the stream.\u201d And not just in relation to the impact on rivers, but in terms of our actions with regard to our treatment of the planet in general. \u201cEven in a political sense, we have moved into short-term election-cycle thinking,\u201d Peedom observes. \u201cHopefully, what the film does is invite people to slow down and take a slightly different point of view and think more downstream.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stranger Than Fiction’s Jennifer Peedom and Arrow Pictures’ John Smithson on their latest collaboration, River.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1412,"featured_media":18431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,69],"tags":[3312,6324,6323],"class_list":["post-18430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-arrow-pictures","tag-river","tag-stranger-than-fiction","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nRiver Invites Viewers to Think Downstream - TVREAL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/river-invites-viewers-to-think-downstream\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"River Invites Viewers to Think Downstream - TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Stranger Than Fiction's Jennifer Peedom and Arrow Pictures' John Smithson on their latest collaboration, River.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/river-invites-viewers-to-think-downstream\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-13T13:00:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-14T13:27:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/07\/StrangerThanFiction-River-0722.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/river-invites-viewers-to-think-downstream\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/river-invites-viewers-to-think-downstream\/\",\"name\":\"River Invites Viewers to Think Downstream - TVREAL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-13T13:00:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-14T13:27:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/river-invites-viewers-to-think-downstream\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/river-invites-viewers-to-think-downstream\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/river-invites-viewers-to-think-downstream\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"River Invites Viewers to Think Downstream\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\",\"name\":\"TVREAL\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\",\"name\":\"Jamie Stalcup\",\"description\":\"Jamie Stalcup is the executive editor of World Screen. 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