Logline

Traveling solo over 1,000 miles along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in a sailing kayak from Miami, Florida to Norfolk, Virginia, Will Freund meets people from so many different backgrounds and learns more than he ever thought possible about how we talk about climate change.

Synopsis

What comes to mind when you hear the words “climate change”? Did you think about politics? Sea-level rise? Maybe the number 1.5 came to mind. That is the question that Will Freund has become fixated on. We hear a lot about the impacts of climate change on our world and the divides in communities on what to do about it. As an environmental educator by trade and a storyteller at heart, Will sets out on the adventure of a lifetime to listen to how people in southeastern coastal communities answer that question.

Our story starts in Raleigh, North Carolina where Will is preparing his modified 16-foot sailing kayak to allow him to set up a tent and physically sleep on something that isn’t much longer than he is. However, the real adventure requires us to make our way down to Miami, Florida where the kayak meets the Intracoastal Waterway for the first time. A connected waterway of sounds, rivers, canals, bays, and locks, the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway stretches north from Miami, Florida to at least Norfolk, Virginia, although some claim further routes that reach as far north as the coast of Maine.

Over the next 3 months and 1,100 miles, Will meets people from a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and communities that share what comes to mind for them when we talk about climate change. Sometimes it’s regarding their work, and others what it’s like in their personal lives. From big cities like Daytona and Charleston, to some of the most remote parts of the east coast in the salt marshes of Georgia, we interpret climate change differently. Humans are natural storytellers and that will be one of the most powerful tools we will have to make this world the one it deserves to be. We are one world, connected by water.

Director’s Statement

I chose to make this film, Connected By Water, to try to understand how people living in coastal communities feel about climate change. In previous years, I had worked as an intern at serval conservation and research organizations as well as a couple of years working as an environmental educator all along the southeastern coast of the United States. During that time, I saw firsthand the impacts of climate change on our coastal ecosystems as well as the divisive rhetoric that comes with it. Through my conservation and educational work, I realized that there was a major disconnect between the scientific community and the public. At our core, everyone is a storyteller and that is how we are going to build bridges and make progress on addressing climate change. Rather than asking people what impacts of climate change they see, I asked how they felt about it.

That’s why I set out on a solo kayaking trip to traverse 1000 miles of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway to meet, connect, and share conversations with people from all walks of life and background to get a better understanding of where we are as a country. I may not have changed anyone’s mind, but I hope that it sparks a conversation, because that is where everything starts.

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Where We Went

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Festivals Awards

Contact Information

Will Freund
will.freund13@gmail.com
919-609-8443