DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
I made The Fight for Water because the subject of the farm worker and the dilemma they were facing during the California Water Crisis of 2009 was close and personal to me.
I came from parents who were migrant farmworkers. They settled in the California Central Valley, from Mexico, with the opportunity of having a better life. They taught me the hard work of working in the fields. But that was not something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to go to school, get an education and be 'somebody'. I became a filmmaker. Today, I come full circle. The Fight for Water: A Farm Worker Struggle brings me back to where I come from, and that is to honor the field worker and what they do for us. |
In 2009, the sight of seeing dried up fields and hundreds of farmworkers in food lines because there was no work, in town after town, was depressing if not painful. The California Central Valley is thought of as the "Fruit Basket of the World" and yet, here in America, we had a third-world situation, where food was being imported from other states and other countries to feed the very people who used to work those fields. It was degrading.
I remember, growing up, my parents instilling in me the principles of working for what you earn. Nothing is free. And certainly, as I interviewed farm workers, they didn't want free handouts or food. They wanted to work and provide for their own families. It is shameful to think that they, or we, come here to depend on others or the government.
I remember, growing up, my parents instilling in me the principles of working for what you earn. Nothing is free. And certainly, as I interviewed farm workers, they didn't want free handouts or food. They wanted to work and provide for their own families. It is shameful to think that they, or we, come here to depend on others or the government.
Unfortunately, the farm working community was put in this predicament because of a federal ruling. Environmental groups sued the fish and wildlife agency to shut the water pumps in order to protect an endangered fish species. When that happened, it cut off the very water farmers need to farm and the jobs that farmworkers depended upon for their livelihood.
This created the harshest economic down turn, not only for the region but also for the entire state of California. Two-hundred thousand people were affected and the unemployment reached over 40%. These unintended consequences only became apparent then. No work meant no food, and no food meant higher prices for everyone. It is after these turn of events that an entire community, from all walks of life, joined together to oppose this injustice and fight for their water. Five years after the historic march, nothing changed but the situation became worse. Governor Jerry Brown, in January of 2014, declared a Drought Emergency in California. President Obama soon came to visit to give federal assistance. However, the environmental restrictions, for which they had been fighting for, were not even mentioned or lifted, which meant that this situation would still linger and the fight would go on. In all, the film serves as cautionary tail on California's ongoing 'Water Water's, and as a lesson to be learned. |
Juan Carlos Oseguera
Writer/Producer/Editor/Director
Writer/Producer/Editor/Director