From Oral Histories to Action: The Story of Project Amu Darya

Project Amu Darya began as an environmental oral history initiative created by three friends – Annie, Oscar, and James – who met at university. Supported by grants from the Oxford University Exploration Club and the Royal Geographical Society, the team spent two months in Uzbekistan in August 2023, interviewing fishermen, farmers, students, professors, and charity workers to uncover the human stories behind one of the twentieth century’s worst environmental disasters: the Aral Sea crisis.

Their work resulted in the documentary Amu Darya: River to a Missing Sea, which has since been screened internationally and has received multiple awards.

Join us for a special screening of Amu Darya: River to a Missing Sea, a powerful documentary exploring the environmental and human stories surrounding the shrinking Amu Darya River. Once feeding the Aral Sea, this great Central Asian River has been dramatically depleted due to large-scale Soviet irrigation policies, transforming what was once the world’s fourth-largest lake into the youngest desert on Earth. Through personal testimonies from Uzbek and Karakalpak communities, the film shares oral histories of an ancient ecosystem – telling intimate stories of loss, adaptation, resilience, and hope as life continues to unfold along the river that now flows toward a missing sea.

Connect with Project Amu Darya:

Trailer | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

EVENT DETAILS

Date: Tuesday 28 April 2026

Venue: The Boulevard Bar, Hollywood Arms, 45 Hollywood Road, Chelsea, London SW10 9HX

- Drinks in the bar from 6.30pm

- Introduction and special screening starts at 7pm (followed by Q&A)

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