Documentaries: An Analysis Of Denis Delestrac's Sand Wars

Documentaries are films based on fact, in which to some sees it as a textbook in a film. From exotic locations and speaking to experts, directors of these documentaries either try to show a point, prove their thesis, or just to bring awareness to their topic. The ESS Lecture Series, took part in the February Film Fest, showing three documentaries that bright to light to environmental issues of fresh water, the damages of progress, and the depleting resource of sand. These three films showcase the art of film, while keeping true to the environmental aspect, as they provide facts and solutions to dealing with their issues. From Liz Marshall’s Water on the Table, which follows Canadian leader Maude Barlow and her quest to make water free to everyone.
For me, I always thought trillions, not realizing that there was a war brewing for the sand I squished between my toes. Denis Delestrac wrote and directed his documentary, Sand Wars, to talk about what was thought to be an infinite resource, is currently running out fast. Sand, a unsung hero, is used to make many products used in everyday life. The biggest industry for sand is construction, as sand is a main piece in every building made. A typical house needs around two hundred tons of sand, a hospital, three thousand, where a nuclear power plant needs twelve million tons of sand to be built (Delestrac, D. (Writers), Delestrac D.. (Director). (n.d.). Sand Wars [Video file].). Dubai is known to the world with its purchase of sand to build the Palm Islands, three artificial islands spreading out of the city. As a country near the desert, this should not be a big deal, yet they are not using desert sand. Desert sand, because it have been blown around so much, is round and not ‘sticky’, thus, cannot compress together and make land. Where sea sand, with its rough edges, can be stacked together. Dubai, illegally, have been shipping in sand from other countries in order to build the Palm Island, and the failed project known as The World. The World was the idea of making islands shaped out like the globe, in which people can buy and build their houses on these islands. Basically creating a tiny world full of islands. Yet with the 2008 financial crisis, stopped development on these islands, after they were built. There they sit, off Dubai’’s shores, just these tiny sand islands with nothing on them (Delestrac, D. (Writers), Delestrac D.. (Director). (n.d.). Sand Wars [Video file].). To me this is science fiction, and even after looking at these satellite images of The World cannot believe that this was a project that was even started. The discussion period was when many of the audience members echoed my own