Just when the waters had calmed,a new wave washes us off our feet… Hard to believe that it’s been over four years since we decided to create our documentary Ru: Water is Life and 17 months since it premiered on July 15, 2012, at Irving Bible Church.  This had been a thrilling adventure.  Not only had we been given an opportunity to make a difference to the people of South Sudan desperately in need of clean water, we were doing so by tapping into our long-held creative dreams. So we were so excited to receive notice that same week as our premier that Ru had been selected for inclusion at the Global Peace Film Festival in Orlando, Florida. Our aspiration was for Ru: Water is Life to eventually have bragging rights for being selected by three film festivals.  After all, just being chosen by one film festival is considered a significant coup in the world of documentaries.   Of course, we secretly hoped for even more notice, but we were realists.  After all, this was our first documentary. By the time the waters had stilled, Ru could boast of inclusion in 14 film festivals in the United States and Canada. Now it was time to move on to the next stage.  In September, we hosted a DVD release party at the Explorer’s Club in New York City followed by another in Dallas at The Venues.  We assumed these would be the wrap-up. But you know what they say about still waters running deep?  Well, just when we thought we had dried off from our, more news comes our way. In November, we learned from Anne Paxton, the director of Social Justice Film Festival in Seattle, Washington, that we had been awarded the Silver Jury Prize in their Short Film category.  This 11-day festival, hosted in October, featured 60 fascinating documentaries from around the world, all focusing on social justice issues.  A nod from these folks is particularly poignant for me. Guess now when people tell me I’m all wet, my proper response should be, “Thank you!”  

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