Epic in scope, but intimate in feel SIMPLE AS WATER is a meditation on the elemental bonds between parent and child from Academy Award-winner Megan Mylan (Lost Boys of Sudan, Smile Pinki.) A masterful look at the impact of war, separation, and displacement, SIMPLE AS WATER takes us into Syrian families’ quests for normalcy and through the whirlwind of obstacles—to building life anew. Filmed in Turkey, Greece, Germany, Syria and the US, Mylan’s sensitive
camera reifies the universal importance of family.
SIMPLE AS WATER premiered on the closing night of the 20th anniversary Tribeca Film Festival. The film was named a New York Times Critic’s Pick and rated 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. It was shortlisted for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, and nominated for Peabody, Producer’s Guild Association and IDA Awards
“Anything but simple, manages to surprise and stun … Filmed with ambitious scope and devastating intimacy." —NY Times Critic's Pick
“Superb... a level of deep, intimate access and rapport that few filmmakers can hope to achieve... Unfolds more like a riveting neorealist drama.” —Indiewire
"The words we have for the horror of fleeing home in the face of violence and war are insufficient: refugee, migrant, asylum seeker. The vast experience of a million impossible decisions are folded into clinical terminology that describe the process, but
fail to capture the humanity of those living through it. Enter Simple as Water.” —Vanity Fair
"If you ever wanted to know what being human is, this film, from its first sequence on, grasps you in the womb, deep in your most profound being, in what defines us all as the human family. A film unlike anything you have ever seen before. Pure, Limpid, it
will shatter your vision of life. Your own, in particular."—Raoul Peck, filmmaker, Oscar nominee I Am Not Your Negro
“Simple as Water is a magnificent film! As a Syrian filmmaker and a Syrian, it left a huge impact in my heart and my memory. When people look after 20 years, when they ask and want to think about the Syrian immigrants or the Syrian exodus, we can say, “Go and watch Simple as Water."—Talal Derki, filmmaker, Oscar nominee Of Fathers and Sons
Date: Oct. 12
Location: Capri Theater
1045 E Fairview Ave, Montgomery, AL
Time: 7pm (Q+A with the director will follow after the screening.)
Suggested Donation: $10
Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/651220577150192
Megan Mylan
Academy Award winner Megan Mylan creates observational documentary films which include Simple as Water, Lost Boys of Sudan, and Smile Pinki. Along with the Oscar, she has been recognized with an Independent Spirit Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and Peabody, PGA, and Emmy nominations. Her films have screened theatrically and on television throughout the world including and through extensive social action campaigns, have raised millions of dollars for charitable causes, recruited thousands of volunteers, and informed public policy. Megan served for several years on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Executive Committee for Documentary. Before beginning in documentary, Megan worked with Ashoka, an international development non-profit, in the U.S. and Brazil. She has a Bachelor’s from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and Masters' degrees in Journalism and Latin American Studies from the University of California at Berkeley where she was also guest director of the Graduate Documentary program.
