The Aral Sea: The Quest for the Source
2 x 52' 4K
52' - French
Screener
52' - English
Screener
52' - French
Screener
52' - English
Screener
The Aral Sea – once an immense basin that collected the waters of the whole of Central Asia – is now almost dried up. The desert sea’s unstoppable disappearance was a stunning event that began at the end of the 20th century.
Writer Cédric Gras, passionate about the Eurasia he has tirelessly traveled for the past 20 years, sets out to discover these desert regions, heirs to the Silk Road, to understand how this sea has shaped the lives of millions of Central Asians.
Along the way, we will meet fishermen, cotton farmers, historians and journalists, and spend time in oasis towns before heading for the high mountains.
Today, we want to understand the changes shaping the Aral Sea, how some of these waters have been saved in the north, while the great sea in the south is doomed to disappear. Where is the water that once reached these shores?
To discover how water travels through deserts, we follow the two rivers that have fed the Aral Sea for centuries: the Syr Darya to the north and the Amu Darya to the south. These once-mighty rivers brought prosperity to Central Asia, but are now being choked off. Two rivers, two histories, two fates suffered at the hands of human activity.
- 2 x 52' 4K
- Lato Sensu, Arte France
- Christophe Reylat
- English, French
- Discovery & Travel, Nature & Wildlife
