WaterBear, the free streaming platform to bring you closer to social and environmental change

Nowadays, we are in what it’s defined as the war for attention. All streaming platforms seem to be fighting for the number of eyeballs they get on their content. Yes, you, the audience, are on the sideline of the most ludicrous of battles, one that wants to save all your other body parts aside from your pupils. It seems graphic but how many Selling Big Houses, Selling Beverly Hills, Selling Sunsets our eyes will have to endure until we realise maybe what we need is to stop watching cardboard houses being sold and shift our attention towards something literally more constructive?

Truth is that sometimes we need mindless content, something that could take our mind off the doom and gloom of the world because our feeds are already screaming tragedy and this causes us to feel helpless. We want to stay informed about what is happening in the world but the more we stay informed the more we hear that voice whispering into our ears “you are not doing enough”, and different variations of the same message “you are not speaking up enough, you are not eco-friendly enough, there is nothing I can do…” and on and on. The more news we consume, the more we seem to feel powerless. 

With this in mind, the documentary industry has been in the trenches to make every watch count in shifting people’s perspectives.
After the extraordinary success of the Oscar-winning documentary, My Octopus Teacher, in 2020, Amsterdam-based executive producer Ellen Windemuth realised that the entertainment industry had the power and responsibility to make people not only care about what is happening in the world but also feel empowered and compelled to know more and do something about it. 

This led her to fund WaterBear, a streaming platform and app that seeks to close the knowledge-action gap by creating and distributing content that makes global environmental and social issues digestible whilst providing its watchers with tangible actions that they can employ to become active doers for the causes they care about.

The streaming service funded in Amsterdam is available globally online and via the app as well as via FAST channels such as Samsung Tv, making it freely accessible for 2.2 million people worldwide, ranging from a selection of over 1000 documentaries to choose from and 140 NGOs that WaterBear works with to connect people with an impact-driven action when watching.

WaterBear was built as the home for captivating stories and impactful storytelling, a place where people not only can access stories that make them feel hopeful about the world. 
This platform plays by different rules: if you want to hear from Indigenous people who have been on the frontline of fighting deforestation; learn about how dance has changed an entire community of one of the biggest refugee camps in the world; witness the healing power of the ocean and dive with a Black Mermaid, exploring WaterBear is the place for you.

Now, the cynic in you might be asking how can something this good be free of costs and even of any ad. As a matter of fact, Waterbear is and will always be free, as we think that being inspired by different stories and perspectives should be available to all. To remain free, WaterBear works with a number of purpose-driven global brands on content productions, all partners go through a stringent selection process before becoming part of our platform.  

The WaterBear selection of films goes beyond educational but its aim is to break the echo chamber of climate storytelling and appeal to different audiences. From investigative long-format pieces such as SLAY, a film about greenwashing, animal cruelty and mislabeling in the fashion industry; to mini-docs about skating and surfing culture; to shorts about alternative lifestyles and regenerative agriculture you can watch on your commute; there is always something to make your time on the screen worth it. 

We think that being inspired by different stories and perspectives should be available to all

The streaming platform has also produced more than 50 in-house WaterBear originals in the past year and all of them being Albert certified to ensure each production is as most sustainable as possible and with the least negative impact on the planet. All our productions have been made with local production crews so as to minimise carbon footprint as well as strive to create the most diverse and inclusive environment by involving directly the communities who are the subjects of the documentaries in the making. WaterBear also has an in-house Impact Producer who is responsible for making sure the company sticks to its values for each production and sets a standard for the film industry at large. By doing things differently, we want to encourage others to follow in our footsteps.

For more information on how to join our ecosystem of impact, watch ground-breaking documentaries and FAQs, please check join.waterbear.com

A starter’s pack when joining WaterBear
Once you have signed up for a free account, here is a list of films we suggest you watch:

On the go:

Every Living Thing, Bees - 7 min 
Until flow­ers grow legs or learn Tin­der, they’ll need bees and oth­er pol­li­na­tors to make ‘it’ hap­pen. One of the most impor­tant species on the plan­et, find out what you can do to help bees — help us — avoid a future with­out food.

Dance For Change - 14 min 
An inspir­ing cel­e­bra­tion of the Dance Crews of Dza­le­ka Refugee camp, who are trans­form­ing their com­mu­ni­ty through cre­ative expression.

Ease yourself into it:

Kamali - 24 min
Following seven-year-old Kamali, the only female skateboarder in a village in India where a skate ramp happened to be built outside her house.

Making Waves - 41min 
Fol­low 41-year-old French con­ser­va­tion­ist, Lamya Essem­lali, the only woman who has led var­i­ous Sea Shep­herd cam­paigns all over the world for the last decade as she fights to pro­tect marine life.

Ready, seat and Action:

In my Blood It Runs - 1h30min
An inti­mate and com­pas­sion­ate obser­va­tion­al doc­u­men­tary from the per­spec­tive of a 10-year-old Abo­rig­i­nal boy strug­gling to bal­ance his tra­di­tion­al Arrernte/Garrwa upbring­ing with the Australian state education.

MILKED - 1h30min
This film unrav­els how the bil­lion-dol­lar cash-cow indus­try has been milked dry.

Check the Waterbear website for more