GHOST PONDS
2022 MOFF Official Selection
About This Project
Filmmaker:
Amanda Sosnowski
Total Running Time:
0:12:06
Filming Location:
United Kingdom
Filmmaker Origin:
United Kingdom
Synopsis:
In the farmland of England’s East Anglia, a search and rescue mission is underway. A team is working to excavate land haunted by ghosts… but these are not ordinary ghosts… they are ghost ponds. Norfolk used to have more ponds than any other English county, but over the past 50 years the pressures of modern-day farming forced landowners to fill-in ponds, making room for new crops, while burying England’s wetlands at an exponential rate. With 1 in 3 freshwater species facing extinction, and the looming threat of a biodiversity crisis, could reviving lost ponds be an answer to these problems? ‘Ghost Ponds: a story of Norfolk’s pond revivals’ journeys to an ongoing pond restoration to meet two of the groundswell movement’s most passionate conservationists. Born and raised in the ponds of Norfolk, Carl is beholden to restore his nostalgic vision of once-thriving wetlands. Jack, having never cared much for ponds before, is driven not to dwell on the past, but rather, reimagine these ponds for a new-found appreciation. Among the backdrop of grand pastoral views and striking sunsets, these small waterbodies are unearthed, with that we uncover why farmland ponds are the conservation underdog, and why Carl and Jack are compelled to do this work. However, all is not as it seems… this restoration work is up against overwhelming odds. As wetlands continue to be filled-in, rare and declining wildlife species cannot afford to wait for large-scale ecosystem restoration projects to be initiated. Carl and Jack must convince everyone of the importance of ponds, before human-induced degradation is too severe. Despite the odds, the result from digging up burial grounds of once-thriving ecosystems holds much promise… even leading to staggering finds. Will it be the smallest changes that can make the biggest difference?
