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Land and Water Revisited

Wednesday, October 13, 2021 @ 7PM (EDT)
Screened online
Kirk French (2020, U.S., 57 min.) + post-film discussion

In 1961, Pennsylvania State University archaeologist William T. Sanders traveled to México’s Teotihuacán Valley to film a documentary based on his 1957 Harvard dissertation, Tierra y Agua. His film, Land and Water, is considered an anthropological classic. Many scholars have compared its importance to other influential films of the same genre like Nanook of the North (1922) and Dead Birds (1963). Sanders managed to capture an invaluable snapshot of land-use practices in the area just prior to the urban expansion of México City – one of the most explosive in human history.

There’s just one problem. Like so many anthropological endeavors, the subjects of the work never got to see their contribution to it–they never got to see how an outsider framed the homes and lives they knew. So in 2018, Kirk French of Penn State’s anthropology department completed a project of remastering the original film and translating it into Spanish. His team arranged for public screenings of the film in the communities throughout the valley, connecting with many residents and interviewing them about the changes that have taken place over the last 60 years. They even met family members of the participants in the 1962 film. The result is this new film, which looks back at the changes in Mexico to foretell the changing future ahead. Understanding the relationship between humans and their environments is one of the most important challenges facing us today. As we become more populous the resources upon which we depend are frequently mismanaged and thus become scarcer. This cycle is one that anthropologists have seen time and again throughout the world. The phenomenon of explosive growth followed by decline is at the forefront of this film project.

Co-presented by the College of Liberal Arts Green Steering Committee

Sometimes you have to look back to look ahead.

Kirk French

Director