Film: The Water Front to be shown in Highland Park Friday evening

How Highland Park residents have struggled with the rising cost of water, shut-offs, and the threat of water privatization.

At 6:30pm on Friday, May 11th at the Highland Park Community High School Auditorium in Highland Park, a documentary film – The Water Front – will be debuted by Canadian filmmaker Liz Miller with the support of the Highland Park Human Rights Coalition and the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization. The 50-minute film details how Highland Park residents are fighting to preserve their basic human right to safe, affordable water. The event will include a reception, updates of what has happened in Highland Park and Detroit over the last year, and the film’s first public screening.

The objective of the event is to celebrate all that has happened so far and start discussing next steps.

In 1917, Henry Ford had a water intake to the Great Lakes basin created for the city of Highland Park in order to support his growing auto industry. Ninety years later residents in this small community, located next to the largest fresh water supply in the world, are being deprived of access to water. Highland Park residents have received water bills as high as $10,000; they have had their water turned off, their homes foreclosed, and their children taken away. The Water Front is the story of how Highland Park residents have fought to maintain a basic human right and to keep their water from being privatized.


Who: Highland Park Human Rights Coalition, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, East Michigan Environmental Action Council, Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit, Upland Hills Ecological Awareness Center, Detroit Green Party, Sweetwater Alliance, Sierra Club, Clinton River Watershed Council PAC, and Clean Water Action.

What: Premiere of documentary film The Water Front.
Dedication to Highland Park “water warriors” Gloria Pogue and Vallory Johnson by local poet and activist Will Copeland.
Discussion of film.
Update on the Highland Park and Detroit’s ongoing water problems.

Where: Highland Park Community High School Auditorium
15900 Woodward Avenue
Highland Park, MI 48203

When: Reception at 6:30pm.
Program at 7:00pm.