Dominican Documentary wins the 2014 We Art Water Film Festival

Maria Victoria Hernandez’s documentary “Saneamiento” (Sanitation), took first place in the 2013/2014 We Art Water Film Festival by the We Are Water Foundation, winning a cash-prize of €2,500 ($3,400) and a camera.

Hernandez topped more than 2,000 other submissions with her 3min short, which was shot on location using only an iPhone 4, in Los Praditos, a neighborhood in Santo Domingo.


Watch Saneamiento on YouTube.

The documentary is narrated by Rodolfo William Moquete Rodriguez, a 13-year-old boy from Los Praditos, and tells the story of Rodolfo's family and neighbors, and the process they must endure to get water  for their everyday needs.

Water only flows from one faucet, and only on Sundays, where Rodolfo lives.

Every Sunday, Rodolfo's family and neighbors which share the sole water source, must hurry and fill up their tanks to store water for the following week.

However, the water source has very little pressure, and they must use an electric water pump to increase the pressure so that water can be claimed and stored quickly.

But there's a small catch. The area only receives electricity, which is needed for the electric pump, for 3 hours on Sundays. Making the process even more difficult.

Watch Saneamiento on YouTube.