Rave On For The Avon
A feature-length documentary film that follows a local community’s fight to save their bathing spot in unique, daring & distinctly Bristolian ways.
IN THE NEWS
UPCOMING SCREENINGS
LONDON | Theatreship, Canary Wharf // screening + Q&A // 13th of Feb, 7 PM
NOTTINGHAM | Mammoth - A Climate Action Cinema // screening // 15th of Feb, 7 PM
EXETER, DEVON | Exeter Phoenix // screening + Q&A // 18th of Feb @ 5:15 PM
LANGPORT, SOMERSET | free screening w/ Transition Lanpgport // 20th of Feb @ 7 PM at The Angel, TA10 9RA // no need to book, just show up! donations welcome
REDRUTH, CORNWALL | Regal Cinema // screening + Q&A // 26th of Feb @ 7:30 PM
HAY-ON-WYE, WALES | The Globe At Hay // screening + Q&A // 1st of Mar
@ 7 PM
WESTON-SUPER-MARE | Plaza Cinema // screening + Q&A // 5th of Mar @ 7:30 PM
COLEFORD, GLOUCESTERSHIRE | Studio Cinema // screening + Q&A // 6th of Mar @ 7:30 PM
TYWYN, GWYNEDD, WALES | Magic Lantern // screening + Q&A // 9th of Mar @ 3 PM
BRISTOL | People's Republic of Stokes Croft // screening + Q&A // 12th of Mar @ 7 PM
SOUTHAMPTON | Harbour Lights Picturehouse // screening + Q&A // 13th of Mar @ 6 PM
MANCHESTER | CULTPLEX // screening + Q&A // 19th of Mar @ 7:30 PM
CARMARTHEN, SOUTH-WEST WALES | Yr Egin // screening + Q&A // 25th of Mar @ 11:30 AM (link coming soon)
LONDON | Greenwich Picturehouse // screening + Q&A // 27th of Mar @ 6 PM
CARDIGAN, WEST WALES | Mwldan Cinema // screening + Q&A // 29th of Mar
(link coming soon)
ABERYSTWYTH, MID WALES // screening + Q&A // 30th of Mar @ 5 PM (link coming soon)
COMING SOON to many more... watch this space as we update it regularly!
OVER 1,500 PEOPLE HAVE SEEN OUR FILM! CHECK OUT OUR PAST 28 SCREENINGS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS WEBPAGE
Rave on for the Avon is a fantastic, inspiring and uplifting film that makes you glad to be alive, thankful for all that is wonderful in this world, and determined to do more to appreciate and protect everything we love. Its main message is about water pollution and the need to protect our rivers as natural resources. But it goes so much further than being about rivers - it's about people-powered community; care, courage and creativity. All things to be cherished and nurtured. It is an activist story that I hope will inspire us all to notice the harm that Government and Big Business are wreaking on the environment. But it is also a warm and hopeful film about the power we all have to make change.
Jane Willis
IMDb
The Outdoor Swimming Society
“Rave On for the Avon is a beautiful new film which captures a community’s love for the Avon, their fight for Bathing Water Quality status and explores the importance of rivers in modern life – all set to a Bristol soundtrack. "
Patrick Naylor
Kendal Mountain Festival
"A sensually produced film that will truly immerse you; sink in to the stories, get deep into the issues, and rise out raving."
Claire Carter, Artistic Director Kendal Mountain Festival
EPIGRAM Magazine
“Even as a self-confessed wild swimming nerd, I was not expecting a documentary about a river to make me cry. And even less was I expecting it to make me cackle... This documentary has to be one of the best embodiments of Bristol Spirit that I have ever seen on screen”
Charlotte Kyle
KEEP IN TOUCH
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THE CAMPAIGN
In a densely residential part of East Bristol runs a serene section of the River Avon which attracts crowds of swimmers in the summer and a regular rotation of cold-water swimmers in winter.
It offers solace and healing for those struggling with mental health issues and a free outdoor activity for local lower-income families.
Three local swimmers formed the Conham Bathing Group, a citizen-led water testing programme to help raise awareness of the poor water quality in the Avon.
The Conham Bathing Group are applying for Designated Bathing Water Status (DBWS). Officially designated Bathing Waters are the only blue spaces where water quality is regularly monitored for its effect on human health, and legal obligations are put on polluting industries to clean up their act. In the UK there are currently only 3 stretches of river with this status, all of which have been won through local campaigns.
There is an ecological emergency in English rivers.
The human and wildlife population are at risk.
Today, in England, only 14% of rivers are in good
ecological health & none are in good chemical health.
In 2021, the environmental performance of the UK’s
water & sewage companies fell to the lowest level
on record, with little improvement since.
But the Bristol Council prohibits swimming in the river, and it’s often filled with dangerous levels of raw sewage, chemical pollution and farm run-off.
This leaves everyone with a dilemma; for all the benefits the river gives them, it could potentially cause them even greater harm.
"Rave On For The Avon" features a tapestry of people who love and fight for this river, illustrating how much there is to loose if the Avon continues to face unending pollution.
This film delivers a sense of urgency about the critical state of the River Avon and how much the locals rely on it for their health and wellbeing.
It galvanises audiences to campaign for policy change in the UK and abroad. We screened the film to local Councillors in Bristol to support Conham Bathing's launch of the Thriving Avon Charter, a document created by the river guardian community laying out policy recommendations for the Avon.
Rave On For The Avon is coming to the cinemas throughout the UK, inviting viewers to seek out swimming spots in their local area and fight to protect them. The situation is dire but there is hope and community to be found in protecting rivers.
We are collaborating with Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) and Rivers Trust to point people to a growing movement of activism which seeks to attain 200 designated bathing waters by 2030. For more infomation please visit SAS's Protecting Wild Waters Campaign.
Read about our joyful sold-out Premiere screening at PYTCH where 300 river-lovers gathered to share in this story.
PAST SCREENINGS
SWANAGE, DORSET | The Mowlem Theatre // screening + Q&A // 7th of Feb, 7:30 PM
SOLD OUT: BRISTOL | The Grain Barge // screening + Q&A + afterparty with Ngaio and Elder Island // 6th of Feb @ 7 PM
NEWQUAY, CORNWALL | The Lighthouse // screening // 6th of Feb @ 7:45 PM
LEWES, EAST SUSSEX | Lewes Depot // screening + Q&A // 3rd of Feb, 7:30 PM
LONDON | Cinema Museum, Kennington // screening + Q&A // 2nd of Feb,
7:30 PM
LETCHWORTH, HERTFORDSHIRE | Broadway Cinema // screening // 29th Jan, 8:15 PM
SOLD OUT: BIARRITZ, FRANCE | FIPADOC // screening // 29th Jan, 11:45 AM
SOLD OUT: LETCHWORTH, HERTFORDSHIRE | Broadway Cinema // screening + Q&A // 26th Jan, 5:30 PM
BIARRITZ, FRANCE | FIPADOC // screening + Q&A // 25th Jan, 10 AM
PENRITH, CUMBRIA | Alhambra Cinema // screening + Q&A // 16th Jan, 7:30 PM
FALMOUTH, CORNWALL | The Poly // screening // 16th Jan, 6 PM
HEBDEN BRIDGE, WEST YORKSHIRE | Hebden Bridge Picturehouse // Screening + Q&A // 11th January 2025, 7 PM
BRISTOL, FILMMAKING FOR THE FUTURE FESTIVAL | St Anne's House, Bristol // screening + Q&A // 14th December
BATH, SOMERSET | The Little Theatre // screening + Q&A // 16th November
BRISTOL, University of Bristol | School of Geography // screening + Q&A // 23rd October
BRISTOL, Wildscreen Festival // Royal Photographic Society // screening + Q&A // 16th October
BRISTOL, Community Screening with Patagonia Bristol & Surfers Against Sewage // Watershed // screening + Q&A // 29th September
BATH, SOMERSET | Community Screening with Finisterre & Bristol Avon Rivers Trust // Finisterre // screening + Q&A // 11th July
BRISTOL, Thriving Avon Charter Launch at The Tobacco Factory // screening + Q&A // 15th June
KESWICK, CUMBRIA | Community Screening with West Cumbria Rivers Trust // Alhambra Cinema // 5th June
OXFORD, OXFORDSHIRE | School of Geography and Environment // screening + Q&A // 28th May
LONDON, MORDEN HALL | Preview Screening at The UK River Summit // 21st May
MOUSEHOLE, CORNWALL | Community screening with Surfers Against Sewage // 10th May
CLEVEDON, NORTH SOMERSET | Curzon Cinema // screening + Q&A // 4th May
BRISTOL, Special Preview at Bristol Aquarium // 25th April
BRISTOL, Special Preview at BBC Natural History Unit // 18th April
BRISTOL, our premiere at PYTCH // 23rd March 2024
Preview at Kendal Mountain Festival // 17th November 2023