Suddenly, A New Genre: Independent Films About Fracking
Cool art house theater or screen porch screening, there’s a whole crop of new films that reveal the true stories of fracking and the impact of industrial shale gas extraction on people, land, air and water. There are so many new movies, you could spend the whole summer watching them, and why not? Here’s my current Don’t Miss list – please share your reviews and recommends.
Groundswell Rising Rough Cut Ready, Almost!
Susan Lyons recently posted on StopFrackingPA! that a “Rough Cut debut of Groundswell Rising sold out at Pocono Community Theater. Got there too late to get a seat. Hope to see the final version soon.”
Mark Dodel replied: “Actually we ended up watching Dear Gov Cuomo. The final print of Groundswell Rising wasn’t finished in time to get it to the theater I had never seen the Cuomo movie so it worked out. They will reschedule Groundswell soon.”
Groundswell Rising, Protecting Our Children’s Air And Water, the new documentary from Emmy Award-winning Resolution Pictures, captures the passion of people engaged in a David and Goliath confrontation. They stand together, challenging a system that promotes profit over health. We meet mothers, fathers, scientists, doctors, farmers and people from all sides of the political spectrum taking a hard look at energy extraction techniques not proven to be safe. With the Oil and Gas industry’s expansion of fracking seen as a moral issue, this provocative documentary tracks a people’s movement, a groundswell rising towards reason and sensitivity, to protect life, today and tomorrow.
For information on upcoming screenings, visit www.groundswellrising.com
Split Estate
Imagine discovering that you don’t own the mineral rights under your land, and that an energy company plans to drill for natural gas two hundred feet from your front door.
Split Estate maps a tragedy in the making, as citizens in the path of a new drilling boom in the Rocky Mountain West struggle against the erosion of their civil liberties, their communities and their health. Produced by Red Rock Pictures.
“There’s no question that people are getting sick.”
Triple Divide
Though the extraction of shale gas will one day end, taking many “boom and bust” jobs with it, contaminated groundwater aquifers, polluted land, and stories of victimization will reamin. But some Pennsylvanians, fed up with corruption and destruction, won’t ‘go down’ without a fight.
Triple Divide is a landmark film by journalists Joshua Pribanic and Melissa Troutman, Public Herald Studio.
Dear Governor Cuomo
“No issue in recent history has generated as much debate in New York as Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas, more commonly known as Fracking.”
Trailer for the trailblazing 2012 documentary film Dear Governor Cuomo.” Film produced by New Yorkers Against Fracking.
Bidder 70
“Tim saw something terribly wrong… He put forth what amounts to a peaceful protest to try to stop it.” ~ Robert Redford
“Tim DeChristopher just got out of jail after doing 21 months behind bars for an inspired act of protection: protecting land, protecting climate, protecting our future from destructive oil and gas drillers. While DeChristopher has become a national and international hero for his act of civil disobedience, too little is known about the details of his struggle and the hard, creative work of his supporters.” ~ Iris Marie Bloom, Protecting Our Waters, host of the Bidder 70 Philadelphia premiere.
What’s The Frack – The Documentary
Coming soon, Don’t frack the Karoo!
From South Africa, a sneak peak at the first trailer for the upcoming documentary featuring Goldman Environmental Prize winner and anti-fracking activist Jonathan Deal.
Short Film: The Hagy Lawsuit
This five-minute film illustrates how fracking’s “catch-22” shields natural gas companies and allows landowners to become collateral damage. The Hagy family in West Virginia had lived for 20 years on 81 rural acres and their water well was tainted and the family became sick after 3 “fracking” wells were drilled in 2008.
“We just want our day in court.” ~ Dusty Hagy, Romance, West Virginia. Uploaded by GreenLaurel.com
Unearthed: The Fracking Facade
It’s time to look behind the glitzy commercials and PR campaigns.
The ‘Fracking Facade’ seeks to set the record straight by exposing a flawed claim often abused in the sales pitch for promoting shale gas development across the world: With a history of 60 years, after nearly a million wells drilled, there are no documented cases that hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) has led to the contamination of groundwater. Brought to you by the team behind the upcoming South African feature documentary, Unearthed, that is investigating natural gas development and the controversial method of extraction known as “fracking” from a global perspective. Should South Africa and other countries drill down? Produced with special thanks to ZooteeStudios.
Short Film: Rock Run Remembrance
The unspoiled beauty of Rock Run and it’s watershed in the Loyalsock State Forest of Lycoming County near Ralston, PA is being threatened by natural gas development. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation has purchased the Clarence Moore mineral rights in the Loyalsock State Forest and has already begun surveying the area. From DC Adventure Films and Responsible Drilling Alliance, September, 2012.
Gasland II
Needs no introduction, unless you are one of the few who’ve yet to see Gasland. Josh Fox is currently touring with Gasland II, screenings are being scheduled presently. Check here for the latest information.
<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/66351194″>GASLAND PART II Teaser Trailer #1</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/user840308″>JFOX</a> on <a href=”http://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>Gasland II is scheduled to air on HBO on July 8, 2013.
~
First, A Few Laughs
While you’re settling in for the show, here’s some crafty humor from the fossil fools at Energy For America. Obviously, big O&G is threatened enough by the Gasland documentaries to create this clip just to discredit it. I say, spoof away! You seem like bigger gasholes when you shame yourself by poking fun at people whose lives are being damaged and destroyed. And thanks for making indy films like these even more popular.
Tags: anti-fracking films, documentaries, Gasland 2, Gasland II, Groundswell Rising, HBO, Resolution Pictures
Keep Tap Water Safe 
June 24, 2013 at 3:47 pm |
THE RIVER TWICE – New Feature Documentary About the Susquehanna River: http://dearsusquehanna.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-river-twice-new-feature-documentary.html
June 24, 2013 at 3:50 pm |
Drll, Baby, Drill – Fim by Lech Kowalski
August 6, 2013 at 5:18 am |
The entertainment industry most certainly is being pulled into plenty of introspection with regard to this.