Let’s Talk About Water (LTAW) harnesses the power of film and storytelling to bridge science, policy, and public awareness around the world’s most vital resource: water. By transforming complex scientific issues into engaging visual narratives, LTAW inspires dialogue, learning, and action across communities and generations. As part of its global outreach, the initiative will host a series of events in Brazil in November 2025, including film screenings in Brasilia and Belem within the COP30. These activities will be followed by international programmes and festivals throughout 2026, continuing LTAW’s mission to connect filmmakers, scientists, educators, and citizens in a shared effort to build a more sustainable and water-conscious world.
1.- Let’s Talk About Water Water film festival – In honour of the 6th International Conference of the Global Network of Water Museums
Cinema Brasilia, Brasilia, Brasil, 4 November 2025
Welcome to the Let’s Talk About Water Film Festival
On 4th November 2025 we celebrated the beauty, power, and urgency of water through film. Stories that flow across time and continents remind us that water connects us all — shaping our lives, cultures, and dreams.
Let’s Talk About Water began twenty years ago as a bridge between science and the public, helping people see and feel the changing realities of our planet.
Today, climate change is no longer distant — it’s here, louder and harsher, written in water: too much, too little, too dirty.
Museums, like films, are powerful storytellers, communication vessels too. This festival honoured the Global Network of Water Museums for their creativity and commitment to sharing these vital stories — here in Brasília.
The programme featured:
- Amazonas, Maior Rio do Mundo by Silvino Santos (Brazil, 1918)
- The world premiere of the winning films from LTAW – Back to Our Future: Arid Lands and Ancient Hydro-Technologies (AHT) Short Film Competition 2025
What made this evening truly special was that we gathered in Cine Brasília, a World Heritage Site designed by Oscar Niemeyer, a place built to inspire imagination.
To sit together in the dark and experience over a century of filmmaking about water, life, and our shared humanity was a gift from Silvino Santos, our young filmmakers, our museum directors, and Let’s Talk About Water.
With love,
Linda Lilienfeld
Founder and Director, Let’s Talk About Water
The film prize “Back to Our Future” -organized by Let´s Talk About Water and the Global Network of Water Museums, a UNESCO IHP* flagship initiative- challenged the common misconception that ancient water management systems are merely prehistoric relics. In truth, many of these practices still offer inspiring and innovative solutions for adapting to climate change while sustaining our vital relationship with water.
The winning films highlight, from diverse perspectives, how ingenious techniques developed over centuries nurtured harmony between people and nature, preserved ecosystems and biodiversity, and supported livelihoods, social cohesion, and traditional landscapes. Time-tested Ancient Hydro-Technologies (AHTs) provide creative approaches to safeguarding our planet’s blue heritage.
Today, AHTs deserve far greater attention in regional water policies, especially across arid regions facing growing pressures from climate change, land abandonment, and migration.
As we strive to achieve the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, it becomes clear that sophisticated technologies alone cannot solve the complex challenges of climate change and resource depletion. At a time when the world drifts toward division and conflict, the values behind AHTs remind us that cooperation and solidarity in the water sector are essential for building peace. The holistic vision they embody is not only relevant, it is vital for our shared future.
This film prize stems from the collaboration with Let’s Talk About Water, initiated through a pilot video installation at the 10th World Water Forum in Bali (2024), and now paving the way for a major exhibition on AHTs at the 11th World Water Forum in 2027.
Eriberto Eulisse
Director, Global Network of Water Museums
