'Mekong Exploring the Mother of Waters' is an award winning environmental and adventure film, documenting the first complete navigation and exploration of the Mekong River mainstream from its source in Tibet to the South China Sea. This is a short 15 minute version of the full documentary film which runs for 45 minutes.
The Mekong Basin, is one of the worlds most diverse natural and cultural environments and until the making of this film, significant portions of the rivers mainstream remained neither navigated, explored or filmed at ground level.
In order to become the first person in history to travel along it's entire course, and to understand the impacts of the mega dam cascade on the rivers peoples and environments, Mick O'Shea overcomes extreme altitude and snow storms at over 4500 meters above sea level, navigates hundreds of kilometres of previously unexplored gorges, ravines and treacherous white water and paddles into the lives of the Mekong's subsistence peoples from dozens of cultural realms over the course of 142 days.
'Exploring the Mother of Waters' exposes some of the most significant environmental and human rights issues of our time and for anyone with an interest in our planets natural and cultural heritage, cutting edge adventure or human rights, this is a film is not to be missed.
Exploring the Mother of waters was awarded the 2007 Telluride Mountain Film Festival award for 'Best Film River and Environment' and came runner up in 'The Peoples Choice Award' at the 2006 Banff mountain film festival competing in a selection of over 100 films. A book written by Mick O'Shea and fully documenting the descent called 'In the Naga's Wake' has been published and distributed internationally by Allen and Unwin Publishers and is available from amazon.
Comments by Co Director of Exploring the Mother of Waters, Mick O'Shea: 'Being the first person in history to fully explore and navigate the Mekong River from source to sea was a great privilege.
Most people don't realize that the Mekong is arguably the second most diverse river basin on earth after the Amazon and that the river systems ecological diversity and role as a supplier of survival resources to millions of people is under threat.
I feel obligated to let the world know what is happening within the Mekong basin, because like global warning they are issues that should be of concern to all of us'
