Dead Sea DyingSynopsis On the border of Israel and Jordan the lowest point on Earth is found. The Dead Sea, the second saltiest body of water on the planet, is filled with water too harsh for life to bear. Yet, its unparallel combination of minerals and salt allows the sea to give the world gifts found in no place else in such quantities. Its isolated ecosystem is located closest to the Earth’s core and precious minerals allow the water to have magical healing qualities sought after by civilization for thousands of years. Cleopatra established the world’s first spa resort in the area and King Solomon, Harod and Jesus alike are known to have been closely connected to the sea. Its concentration of bromide ( found there at the highest concentration in the world), potash and magnesium help developing countries grow food at astonishing rates, while its oxygen rich climate allows for a unique agriculture that produces organic crops of which eighty percent feed people outside of Israel. The form of agriculture used around the Dead Sea infuses cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers and basil with such sweetness, that the crops are even exported to Italy where they are consumed all over the country.
The sea’s minerals have created sought-after skin care products, most actively sold under the AHAVA brand to beauty and health retailers all over the globe.
Its water, climate and mineral concentration attract tourists from all over the globe who seek the sea’s health benefits known to ease many skin, respiratory, and orthopedic ailments.
The sea is completely isolated with no outlets and only the Jordan River formerly supplying water. Now, it is completely alone and shrinking because the Dead Sea water input has been cut off to conserve water from the river due to the shortage in the region. As a result, the Dead Sea is dying.On its Northern shores, the water line has receded hundred of yards. On the Southern shores, you’ll see signs warning DANGER: OPEN PITS! Wherever you are around the Dead Sea, on the Jordanian or Israeli side, the shoreline is full of these sinkholes—testifying to an environmental catastrophe.
More than 1,000 sinkholes have appeared in the past 15 years. Sinkholes have already swallowed portions of roads, date-palm fields and several buildings on the sea's northwest coast. Environmental experts believe that hotels along the shore are also in danger. The shrinking of the sea is evident everywhere: remains of beach facilities are found hundreds of yards from the sea shore.
On May 9, 2005 Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority signed an unprecedented agreement to begin studying the potentials of a project that would pump sea water from its southern neighbor, the Red Sea, to ensure its survival. In 2008, nothing has been done and the water continues to recede at a staggering rate easily observed by the naked eye in a matter of hours.
Highlight films proposes a 60 minute documentary to explore the Dead seas special relationship with the world; how it contributes, heals and affects agriculture, health, industry and even a future peace of the Middle East while at the same time revealing its endangered state and proposing solutions to ensure its future.
A co-production team made up of Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian filmmakers, scientists and scholars who will unravel the meaning and history and future for the natural phenomenon combined with the producers' unparalleled access to key players from the Dead Sea Factories, area residents in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, leading experts in the study of the sea and incredibly rare archive and time-lapse footage the film will tell the story of the Dead Sea like never before.
The film itself will document the Dead Sea’s life over the course of one year, allowing us to understand what exactly is occurring and endangering the sea while at the same time understanding the sea’s special relationship with humanity and the environment. We will trace the sea’s tiny minerals from their excavation through their processing, selling on to their end product. We will witness directly how the Dead Sea affects a world far from its salty shores.
We will follow our guides through the course of this year as well and witness the people who surround and work to save the Dead Sea. We will observe them working together and crossing religious, national and political lines for a common purpose.
We will discover harsh realities about the region as we explore the sea. We will uncover things like the fact that it is used as sewage dump for the Palestinian Authority because no other alternative exists.
Through our 60 minute, narrated documentary, we will witness the transformation of the Dead Sea and the way that it affects the economic, environmental and political reality of our world today. This film will simultaneously aim to be a wake-up call revealing through the story of the Dead Sea, the fact that only we can save our planet from ourselves and for ourselves.
Click here for the full synopsis and treatment © Highlight Films 2009
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