RiverBlue Director Shares His Take on the Film that Shook up the Denim Industry
Fresh from a recent Texworld USA screening of RiverBlue, a film that exposes the fashion industry’s—and denim in particular—impact on the world’s waterways, Carved in Blue was eager to carry on the conversation with film director Roger Williams about what the film did for him.
RiverBlue uncovers fashion-induced pollution in rivers around the world as it follows international river conservationist Mark Angelo on his journey to highlight the effect this chemical contamination has had on communities and people, and what the industry can do to change it.
For his take, Carved in Blue caught up with Williams for some director’s insight.
Carved in Blue: Why did you see now as the right time for the film?
Roger: We started the film five years ago, it took three years to produce the film as we traveled through 11 countries—which sometimes took months to negotiate our visas—a year of post-production and then a year of film festivals. So far, we have been nominated 17 times for awards and have won 11 awards around the world.
I saw this as the right time to produce RiverBlue as my research showed this was a very under-reported story. Rana Plaza was reported and other news had come out about workplace conditions but nobody had taken on the angle of the amount of pollution that the fashion industry was responsible for. It is said that fashion is the second biggest polluter next to oil.
Carved in Blue: What were you most surprised to uncover in working on the film?
Roger: Just how bad it really is. Trillions of gallons of chemicals are being dumped into rivers in many areas of Southeast Asia and Africa, with no regard for the effect downstream or what it’s doing to our oceans. Plastic is very much talked about these days as major polluter of oceans, but the chemicals we can’t see are having a devastating effect on our oceans as well. The biggest thing that was hard to get over was the smell of chemicals in the air. Just getting out of a car to film gave me an instant headache. How people can live in those conditions is beyond belief.
Carved in Blue: What do you hope to see the film accomplish?
Roger: We had a simple goal in mind when we started this project and that was: could we change an industry that desperately needs to change its polluting and toxic manufacturing practices? I am optimistic that we have had an effect and that things will change in the next 10 years. I have heard from many manufacturers that they are very much aware of RiverBlue and the problems they have in their manufacturing process. I have heard of some companies who are looking for solutions to try and implement to clean up their supply chain.
Carved in Blue: What do you think it will take the denim industry to get to a more sustainable place?
Roger: They are aware but the consumer is the group that could force them to change quicker. If we vote with our money and try and buy more ethically and sustainably made clothing, the manufacturers will take notice and they will be forced to change. Even though some manufacturers are starting to shift to better practices, I can assure you that with the volume of clothing being made today, the rivers that we saw have deteriorated even further.