Hey World,

FLOW will be hitting US theaters end of summer! We're really excited to be working with Oscilloscope, a distribution company started by former ThinkFilm execs and Beastie Boy Adam Yauch. This is a GREAT partnership for us as filmmakers; the other great piece of news is that we'll be playing both the Democratic and Republican political conventions, the DNC in Denver and the RNC in Minneapolis! More on all of this soon.

Elsewhere, as the weather heats up, water stories surface all over the world. Bob Dylan's just rewritten Hard Rain's Gonna Fall to highlight clean water issues, and corporate water barons are on the run everywhere.

In Felton California, locals banded together to form Felton FLOW, Friends of Local Water, to reclaim their local water and after six years, have a major victory. It's an incredible story of pluck and determination, a model for understanding why water utilities should be managed locally everywhere. 

Outside of the US, in a fitting round of justice, French water giants Veolia and Suez are getting kicked out of the their own capital city. The Paris city council announced in early June that the city’s water system would revert to 100 percent public control at the end of 2009, the aim is to keep water prices in the city stable. More here.

“Bottled water is nothing but a corporate hoax to trick consumers into paying hundreds, sometimes thousands, times more for a product than what it is actually worth,” said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch. “Tap water is just as safe and healthy as bottled water, and is a far more cost-effective choice.” More here.  

And here's a fantastic map from Corporate Accountability Watch charting cities all over the US that are fighting to stem the tide of the bottled water crisis. 

Finally, here's a wonderful piece about Maude Barlow, hot off the Aussie presses. Maude deservedly just won the Citation of Lifetime Achievement at the Canadian Environment Awards, and is an incredible inspiration to so many people in the global water movement. We're thrilled she's getting some well-deserved recognition. 

To water for all, 

Steven