Martin Sheen narrates “One Water” for television

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Award-winning actor Martin Sheen has completed the narration for a television release of “One Water,” a documentary produced by faculty at the University of Miami. Sheen, best known as the president of the United States on the popular television series “West Wing,” has been a long-time advocate for peace and the plight of the poor. According to Sheen, "Future wars will be fought over water but, even now, the poor people of the world are victims of the water crisis."

"One Water," which focuses on the scarcity of potable water and how people throughout the world are dealing with that issue, was created as a collaboration among the University of Miami’s School of Communication, College of Engineering, and School of Music and was filmed in 14 different countries over six years. The television version of the documentary is being distributed worldwide by Lightworks Program Distribution.

Sheen’s narrative was recorded in Los Angeles with Sam L Grogg, dean of the School of Communication on site, and the co-directors of the film, Sanjeev Chatterjee and Ali Habashi, on line from the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables, Fla. Grogg had worked with Sheen in the past on the film version of the award-winning play "Da," and as Grogg noted, "Martin has a great heart, and 'One Water' was a wonderful opportunity for us to collaborate again."

The completion of the television version of “One Water” is just one part of the multi-year, multi-faceted One Water Project at the University of Miami’s Knight Center for International Media. The project also includes a non-verbal 22-minute film entitled “1H2O,” which will be screened at events around the world on World Water Day, March 22, and which has an educational component for students in grades K through 12. A feature-length version of “One Water” has already been collecting top awards at international film festivals.

The Knight Center for International Media is continuously engaging journalists, media-makers and others to create news and information about water. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is a major sponsor of that effort, notes Chatterjee, who also serves as executive director of the Center.

“This is a multimedia experiment designed to reach the widest possible audience with the message about water,” Chatterjee said. “It is crucial that everyone becomes aware of the global world water crisis and do their share to try to mitigate it,” he said. “This crisis will spare no one.”

For more information or to download a press kit on “One Water,” go to www.onewaterthemovie.org.

For more journalism projects related to the One Water Project, visit www.1H2O.org.

About the Knight Center for International Media: The Knight Center for International Media at the School of Communication, University of Miami, was established in early 2007 with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The Center operates on the assumption that effective communication across national and cultural borders is essential for addressing the most crucial issues of our time. The Center’s work focuses on “Anchor Projects” – like One Water - designed to harness the full range of media platforms and knowledge bases over significant blocks of time to advance solutions. These projects focus on underreported issues of global significance and are broadly informed by the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.

Posted on March 18, 2009

© 2008 University of Miami School of Communication