Monday, 20 March 2023 | 16:00 to 17:30 | Second Student Centre Convention Centre | York University

With
Sapna Sharma, Department of Biology, York University
Zeesy Powers, filmmaker

Omiwatari depicts the first year in memory that Lake Suwa, site of a millennia-old phenomenon, remained ice-free all winter. The post-industrial landscapes of Japan’s rust belt bear witness to the price we pay for progress and our remaining possibilities to adapt to those losses. Within the next 50 years, the gods of this lake, whose annual reunion across the ice brought good fortune and balance between humans and nature, will never meet again. We are the cause, and it is up to us to find a way forward for ourselves.

Omiwatari is based on the research of Dr. Sapna Sharma and in collaboration with Mr. Kiyoshi Miyasaka, chief priest of the Tenaga Jinga shrine. Learn more about the making of Omiwatari at this link.

A discussion on the cultural losses of climate change and a Q&A will follow. This event is being held in partnership with the 58th CENTRAL Canadian Symposium on Water Quality Research and One Water World Water Day celebration at York University as well as York University’s Climate Change Research Month.

The Canadian premiere of the film is presented with the support of the Sharma Lab, Department of Biology, Lassonde School of Engineering and YCAR.