Alumni and friends of the College are warmly invited to attend a free screening of Amu Darya: River to a Missing Sea, an environmental documentary focused on the Aral Sea Crisis in Uzbekistan. Please join us in Maplethorpe Hall on Monday 18th November at 5pm for a 5:15pm start. The film will be followed by a discussion with Oscar Fraser Turner (History, 2021), one of the creators of the film, and a drinks reception.
Amu Darya: River to a Missing Sea is a short film exploring the memories of the Amu Darya – the Central Asian river that no longer reaches its destination.
Through oral histories, the film offers an insight into how Uzbek and Karakalpak communities are dealing with the desiccation of the Amu Darya and the downstream Aral Sea; how the USSR turned the Aral Sea from the world’s fourth largest lake into the world’s youngest desert.
Through tales of loss, adaptation, and hope, River to a Missing Sea offers the human story of an environmental disaster.
The film was created by three young St Hugh’s graduates over the course of a two month visit to Uzbekistan during which time they interviewed a range of students, professors, NGOs and former fishermen about the past, present and future of the Aral Sea.
