Meet the Turkana of Kenya and the Dassanech, Nyangatom, and Mursi of Ethiopia — their lives and culture depend on the waters of the Omo River and the body into which it flows, Lake Turkana.

In the past few decades Lake Turkana has been experiencing an anomaly: higher temperatures and less rainfall. The water is disappearing. Tribes now have to cross each other’s territories in search of water. Armed with AK47s and M16s, they kill, raid livestock and attack their rivals' villages, displacing thousands each year.

These are “some of the world’s first climate-change conflicts,” according to one UN official. And many climate scientists agree this conflict will be increasingly common in the 21st century — as worsening drought pits group against group, nation against nation.

But this story is not only about climate change. The Ethiopian government is building a dam on the upper Omo River that threatens to halt the annual flood cycles if completed, spiraling 800,000 tribesmen even further into conflict.

Directed by Evan Abramson
Produced and Edited by Jennifer Redfearn
Cinematography by Evan Abramson
Executive Producers: Roger Cohn for Yale Environment 350 and Brian Storm for MediaStorm

Learn more: e360.yale.edu

Life is Precious. Water Shouldn't Be.

Winner of two dozen film festival awards, Carbon for Water has inspired audiences and policymakers across the globe, with screenings at the United Nations, COP17, The World Water Forum, The Alternative World Water Forum and The World Bank.

At dawn, nine-year-old Anzelma walks for miles in search of firewood. Many in her village have died from drinking dirty water, and firewood is a valuable commodity, used to boil water to make it safe.

In Kenya, water insecurity is a life-threatening reality, and the population is expected to leap from 40 to 60 million in the next twenty years. Most of the country still depends on wood and charcoal for household energy, and forest cover is dwindling. At the same time, the climate is changing: rainfall is decreasing, river levels are low and water contamination is on the rise. In the fierce competition for shrinking resources, the most vulnerable are women and girls, who are responsible for finding water and fuel for their families.

One company is attempting to change this by providing 900,000 water filters to the people of Kenya’s Western Province, for free. LifeStraw Carbon for Water is the largest household water treatment program in the developing world, and it’s being financed with carbon credits. If successful, it will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 2 million tons per year, for a decade or more. But it requires changing the habits of 4.5 million people first.

Directed and Produced by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez
Edited by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez
Cinematography by Evan Abramson
Aerial photography from the movie HOME by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Sound Mix by Alex Noyes
Animation and Motion Graphics by Pixeldust Studios

Learn more: carbonforwaterfilm.com

A film-in-progress successfully funded on Kickstarter. Expected release: 2016.

Deep in the bayous of Louisiana, Edison Dardar arms himself against anyone who tries to move him off the island he loves, as it vanishes into the Gulf of Mexico. He and his neighbors are the first environmental refugees in the continental United States. Yet their crusade to remain on Isle de Jean Charles until its catastrophic end is a testament to the strength of their identity and ancestry, despite the mounting pressures of nature, industry and fellow humans.

Directed and Produced by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez
Edited by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez
Cinematography by Evan Abramson

Press:

Huffington Post
350.org
Climate Reality Project
The Examiner
Tulane University
PDN
Shoot for Change
FotoVisura
Vassar Quarterly
LowePro

Festivals (as a work-in-progress):

DC Environmental Film Festival, USA
Planet in Focus, Canada
Woods Hole International Film Festival, USA
filmambiente, Brazil (Nominated for Best Short Film)
Muestra de Cinema Ambiental, Dominican Republic
Sembrando Cine, Peru
Motovun Film Festival, Croatia

Produced in partnership with American Jewish World Service.

Dayanara came out as transgender when she was a teenager. Ostracized by her family and thrown out of her home, she turned to sex work to support herself financially.

She lived on the streets for years, developed a drug addiction and ended up in prison, where she was raped repeatedly.

After Dayanara was released, she learned about the Association for Transgender Nicaraguans (ANIT), an organization supported by American Jewish World Service that advocates for the rights of trans women—people like Dayanara who have been viewed by society as men but understand themselves to be women.

Dayanara connected with ANIT’s leaders who encouraged her to get tested for HIV. After learning that she tested positive, she made a commitment to turn her life around.

Now at 29, Dayanara is finishing her high school degree and is one of ANIT’s community leaders. Together with other activists, she is working to increase access to legal justice for transgender people who have been victims of violence. She also conducts trainings with health providers and police officers to equip them with the knowledge and skills to end discrimination against LGBT Nicaraguans.

Directed and Produced by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez
Edited by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez
Cinematography by Evan Abramson
Commissioned by American Jewish World Service

Learn more: webelieve.ajws.org

Produced in partnership with American Jewish World Service.

Teresa married her husband when she was 19. They had six children and lived on four acres of farmland nestled in the mountains.

For 30 years, she suffered his relentless abuse. He molested all three of their daughters, often waking up at night to rape them as they slept.

But for a long time, Teresa was afraid to challenge her husband. In the community of San Rafael, people tend to believe that women consent to sexual abuse, and many villagers said that Teresa had condoned the rapes of her own daughters. Terrified of what might happen if she spoke out, she remained with her husband as the violence persisted. She had no means to support herself independently, as her home and land were registered in her husband’s name.

One day, Teresa was listening to the radio and heard about an organization called the Association of Entrepreneurial Women of Waslala (AMEWAS)—a Nicaraguan grassroots group supported by AJWS that seeks to decrease violence against women, girls and youth by educating women about their rights, promoting gender equality and expanding women’s access to the judicial system.

AMEWAS supported Teresa to press charges against her husband, and in 2011, he was sentenced to 12 years of prison. They were also able to transfer the title of the property to her. Thankfully, Teresa and her children now live on their land independently, without the threat of violence.

Directed and Produced by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez
Edited by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez
Cinematography by Evan Abramson
Commissioned by American Jewish World Service

Learn more: webelieve.ajws.org

Produced in partnership with American Jewish World Service.

For decades, Burma's military regime has brutally attacked the Karen people and ethnic minority groups like them across the country. Naw Wah* was 15 when government soldiers arrived in her village. Fearing rape, forced labor or death, she dropped everything and fled.

Unfortunately, the Thai refugee camp where she settled didn't ensure her safety. She was raped there, and soon discovered that the attack left her pregnant.

Naw Wah sought help from Karen Women’s Organization (KWO), an AJWS-supported nonprofit that works to protect the rights of Karen women, both within Burma and in refugee camps. They gave her the support she needed to build a life with her young daughter.

KWO also taught Naw Wah about human rights, and she participated in their leadership training. With new knowledge, confidence and skills, Naw Wah has started to help other women in her community who have experienced gender-based violence.

*Subject asked to use a different name and to mask her identity.

Directed and Produced by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez
Edited by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez
Cinematography by Evan Abramson
Commissioned by American Jewish World Service

Learn more: webelieve.ajws.org

Produced in partnership with American Jewish World Service.

While Ugandan politicians are still debating whether or not to pass an anti-gay law that would not only make homosexual acts punishable by death, but also compel citizens to report suspected homosexual activity to the police, the members of Uganda's LGBTQ community continue to face death, violence and widespread discrimination. In February 2013, I was commissioned by AJWS to document the daily life of LGBTQ activists living and working in Kampala, who oscillated between outrage and fear, silence and bliss. Some of the members of Transgender Equality Uganda and Freedom and Roam Uganda whom I met were publicly out, while others were forced to hide in straight society's shadows for fear of being attacked, losing their job or getting kicked out of their house.

After discussing with both organization's members how to represent their diverse forms of self-identity, self-expression and varying levels of outness; and in part because popular local tabloids have taken to scourging the internet for photographs of Uganda's LGBTQ community to be used in published outings; we decided to take the safest approach and mask all of their identities in shadow and quiet.

Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez are filmmakers, photographers and parents based in rural northwest Connecticut. They have directed, filmed, edited and produced award-winning documentaries together since 2010. Cows in the Field is a production house and teaching center they have founded in order to tell the stories of people whose lives are impacted by social and environmental crises around the globe — and find solutions.

Before January 12, 2010, there were more than 10,000 humanitarian and charity organizations registered in Haiti. Billions of dollars of donations later, the international presence is stronger than ever. Yet six months after the earthquake, 90% of the rubble still had not been removed and women and children were being raped on a nightly basis, across the street from the government palace. One must wonder: Are the voices of Haitians being heard? Are their needs being met? Haiti appears to be caught between states: of destruction, of rebuilding, of progress, of upheaval, of normalcy. This video documents the growing sense of disenchantment among Haitians caught between disaster and the promise of healing.

Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez are filmmakers, photographers and parents based in rural northwest Connecticut. They have directed, filmed, edited and produced award-winning documentaries together since 2010. Cows in the Field is a production house and teaching center they have founded in order to tell the stories of people whose lives are impacted by social and environmental crises around the globe — and find solutions.

Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez are filmmakers, photographers and parents based in rural northwest Connecticut. They have directed, filmed, edited and produced award-winning documentaries together since 2010. Cows in the Field is a production house and teaching center they have founded in order to tell the stories of people whose lives are impacted by social and environmental crises around the globe — and find solutions.

Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez are filmmakers, photographers and parents based in rural northwest Connecticut. They have directed, filmed, edited and produced award-winning documentaries together since 2010. Cows in the Field is a production house and teaching center they have founded in order to tell the stories of people whose lives are impacted by social and environmental crises around the globe — and find solutions.

Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez are filmmakers, photographers and parents based in rural northwest Connecticut. They have directed, filmed, edited and produced award-winning documentaries together since 2010. Cows in the Field is a production house and teaching center they have founded in order to tell the stories of people whose lives are impacted by social and environmental crises around the globe — and find solutions.

Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez are filmmakers, photographers and parents based in rural northwest Connecticut. They have directed, filmed, edited and produced award-winning documentaries together since 2010. Cows in the Field is a production house and teaching center they have founded in order to tell the stories of people whose lives are impacted by social and environmental crises around the globe — and find solutions.

Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez are filmmakers, photographers and parents based in rural northwest Connecticut. They have directed, filmed, edited and produced award-winning documentaries together since 2010. Cows in the Field is a production house and teaching center they have founded in order to tell the stories of people whose lives are impacted by social and environmental crises around the globe — and find solutions.