About the film

Each year, when the dry season reaches its peak in Southern Ethiopia, the Borana herders gather with their livestock around their ancient wells. Huge hand-excavated craters, known as “singing wells”, allow them to survive during the long annual droughts. Here, every day, the young shepherds form human chains, allowing them to reach the depths of the well and bring up the water. Their work is accompanied by a song which seems to draw the great herds as they slowly come near, after days of walking in a dry land. The documentary follows the Borana life throughout the drought until the long-awaited rain comes. Through interaction with several characters, the film introduces us to a unique water management system that allows the Borana shepherds to manage the small quantity of available water as the property and right of everyone. Nobody can be denied the access to water, neither the herders of an enemy tribe in need. While all around the world the availability to drinkable water is still not considered a fundamental human right, the Borana deserve a special attention for the extraordinary way in which they guarantee general and indiscriminate access to water in one of the driest inhabited regions on Earth.

Wybrane nagrody i festiwale / Selected festivals and awards: 2012 – MFF Bagdad / Baghdad IFF, 2012 – FF All Roads / All Roads FF