The Great Thirst, 1969

Location: Various, Italy Creator: Massimo Mida The Sicily of the past was rich in water and trees. Thanks to the work of its inhabitants, especially the Arabs, the island had water systems of rare efficiency. The documentary proposes a comparison between that situation and the reality of today's Sicily. Today, water is scarce: today every Sicilian has 165 liters of water available per day, compared to the national average of 250 liters and 400 in northern Italy. The consequences of this scarcity are primarily the citizens, and therefore agriculture and industry, for which water is an equally vital necessity. Periodically, the water problem causes even violent protests in Sicily by the exasperated population. However, the documentary does not exhaust its investigation in the observation of the current situation: through shots taken in cities, towns, homes, countryside, it also intends to indicate the historical responsibilities of an indifferent and passive ruling class and the privileges and interests that lie behind the use of an essential good such as water. 01. Title: 'The Great Thirst'. Exteriors of industries. Men on mules. Lots of cars parked 02. View of a Sicilian town. Children playing. Interior of a poor house. Animals trying to drink at a fountain and in a puddle 03. Manifesto: “Provincial strike. 48 hours of agricultural laborers”. Newspaper pages about lack of water 04. Pretoria Fountain. Inq of rivers where papyri grow. Mosaics of Piazza Armerina 05. View of an arid landscape. Pylons that allow the zip line to convey material to the Campofranco plant 06. PP of a bus. Inq of factories. Plain of Catania. Network of drained water channels. Villaggio Capparrini built by ERAS. Interview with a lady who lives there with a few other families 07. Licata. Men fill cans at a fountain. Oxen drink in tanks of water. A water bottle brings water to the village 08. Interview with a bar manager who complains about the lack of water to wash dishes 09. View of Agrigento. Interview with a university student. Greenhouses for cultivation in the province of Ragusa. Interview with a farmer who, together with others, dug a well for irrigation 10. Lentini. Glimpses of the country. Consultation of the mayor and the administrators. Disueri Dam remained in disuse 11. Photo by Danilo Dolci. Construction of the Jato dam. Carboi Dam. Domenico Messina, Vincenzo Saladino and Michele Mandiello speak 12. Irrigation water transport channels 13. Views of Palermo. Some streets of the city: from slums to stately neighborhoods. Interview with the engineer Alessandro Ferretti. Tankers bring supplies to the countries 14. Irrigation water sorting point 15. Demonstration of inhabitants Danilo Dolci also participates