BRASÍLIA, Brazil – November 5, 2025 – At the 6th International Conference of the Global Network of Water Museums (WAMU-NET), the global film festival "Water Film Prize" announced its 2025 winners. The festival is jointly initiated by "Let's Talk About Water" (LTAW) and WAMU-NET, with support from UNESCO's International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP).
Lin Sihan, a 2024 undergraduate student in the Broadcasting and Hosting Arts (Chinese-Spanish Bilingual Direction) program, and Lin Yiqi, a 2024 graduate of the Spanish program, both from the School of Foreign Languages and Cultures at Communication University of China (CUC), received an Honorable Mention for their co-created film "Living with Water: The Resilient Wisdom of the Hani Rice Terraces." Their work was nominated for the festival through the recommendation of the CILECT Asia-Pacific Regional Association.
This year's Water Film Prize, under the theme "Back to Our Future," focused on the dialogue between Ancient Hydro-Technologies (AHTs) and contemporary climate challenges. It encouraged global creators to explore humanity's relationship with water through film, highlighting how traditional water knowledge can inform future sustainable development.
The award-winning film spotlights the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces in China, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System. The documentary delves into the intricate cyclic ecosystem of "forest-village-terrace-water." It illustrates how these terraces have maintained the balance between mountain agriculture and water culture over millennia. Through nuanced storytelling and cinematography, the film portrays the Hani villagers' dedicated efforts to revive traditional vegetation and water systems amidst modern pressures. It reveals the enduring relevance of local knowledge in the context of global climate change and underscores the power of ecological self-management and community cultural awareness.In their review, the festival jury noted that the film "skillfully connects local water knowledge with contemporary climate issues through compelling imagery, narrative, and profound humanistic concern, offering global audiences a fresh perspective on understanding traditional wisdom and modern sustainable development."
Screenings for the festival are scheduled to take place alongside the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Belém and Brasília, Brazil, in 2025. Subsequently, the film is set to be featured at the "Let's Talk About Water" Film Festival in Paris (2026), the Luxor African Film Festival (2026), and the 11th World Water Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2027).
From the vast terraces nestled in the Ailao Mountains to the global stage of dialogue, the film's journey symbolizes a broader return – one where local wisdom becomes a source of inspiration for worldwide water resource management, ecological protection, and climate action.
This article was translated with AI assistance.
Editor: Fang Yiran
