“Guardian of the Well”: Filmmaker Bentley Brown’s Award-Winning Look at Climate Change in Chad

Filmmaker and professor Bentley Brown has earned international recognition for his short film, Guardian of the Well. The six-minute documentary, which is the first in a trilogy about climate change and resilience in the Sahel region, was inspired by Brown’s memories of growing up in Chad. It captures the paradoxical reality of the region, where a severe drought was followed by torrential flooding, and focuses on a single historic well to highlight how communities are coping with these environmental extremes.

From Personal Memories to a Global Story

Brown’s journey back to his childhood home was supported by a research grant from the American University of Sharjah (AUS). He believes that the film’s success at festivals like True/False and Encounters is a testament to the power of storytelling to give voice to underrepresented communities. He emphasizes that the film’s purpose is not to push an activist agenda, but to bear witness and offer a human perspective on the effects of climate change.

A Trilogy of Testimonies

The next two films in the trilogy will continue this exploration. The second film, Ephemeral River, will focus on the dangers of flooding, while the third, The Bull Driver, will explore herding traditions and astronomy. Brown is also collaborating with artists and scholars to expand the project into a book and a video installation, further exploring how to share these stories across different mediums. He credits the support from AUS for allowing him to pursue this kind of creative, transdisciplinary research.