The latest in the Giving Our River a Voice Educational Series, the award-winning documentary revealing the disgusting truth about hydraulic fracturing (fracking) “Gasland,” will be aired at Rum 138 at 6 pm on Wed. Dec. 7. This is a one-time free event so come and bring your friends. The screen is outdoors, so bring a jacket if it is cool, and also please bring a chair if possible, as there is plenty of room but limited seats.
Learn why natural gas is not the answer to dirty coal, and why it is not a so-called “bridge fuel” to sustainable energy such as wind and solar power. Learn what fracking does to our atmosphere, our earth, and to our underground water supply. Learn why fracking is banned in many countries and areas of the earth.
As to be expected, the fossil fuel industry has pushed back and made false claims regarding the facts revealed in this documentary.
This event has been made possible by Floridians Against Fracking, OSFR, Rum 138, Food & Water Watch, and Sierra Club Suwannee-St Johns Group.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
-A river is like a life: once taken, it cannot be brought back-
Gasland is a 2010 American documentary written and directed by Josh Fox. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2011, the film focuses on communities in the United States affected by natural gas drilling and, specifically, a method of horizontal drilling into shale formations known as hydraulic fracturing. The film was a key mobilizer for the anti-fracking movement.
Synopsis
Fox narrates his reception of a letter in May, 2008, from a natural gas company offering to lease his family’s land in Milanville, Pennsylvania for $100,000 to drill for gas. Fox then set out to see how communities are being affected in the west where a natural gas drilling boom has been underway for the last decade. He spent time with citizens in their homes and on their land as they relayed their stories of natural gas drilling in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Texas, among others. He spoke with residents who have experienced a variety of chronic health problems directly traceable to contamination of their air, of their water wells or of surface water. In some instances, the residents are reporting that they obtained a court injunction or settlement money from gas companies to replace the affected water supplies with potable water or water purification kits.
Throughout the documentary, Fox reached out to scientists, politicians, and gas industry executives and ultimately found himself in the halls of Congress as a subcommittee was discussing the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act, “a bill to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to repeal a certain exemption for hydraulic fracturing.” Hydraulic fracturing was exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Production
Gasland was conceived, directed, primarily filmed and narrated by Fox. This is his first documentary and second film; his first was a narrative feature entitled Memorial Day. The executive producers of Gasland are Debra Winger and Hunter Gray; producers are Trish Adlesic, Fox and Molly Gandour; co-produced by David Roma; cinematographers are Fox and Matthew Sanchez; editor is Matthew Sanchez; supervising sound editor is Brian Scibinico; animators are Juan Cardarelli and Alex Tyson; consultants are Morgan Jenness and Henry Chalfant and researchers are Molly Gandour, Barbara Arindell, Fox and Joe Levine.
The documentary was made in about eighteen months. Fox began the project as a one-man crew, but was joined by three other cameras at different points. Matt Sanchez is credited with the structure of the film and together with Fox edited roughly 200 hours of footage to about 100 minutes.
A documentary rebutting Gasland’s claims, FrackNation, was successfully funded on Kickstarter. FrackNation has since had TV, DVD, theatrical release as well as viewings in governmental and scientific committees worldwide. The documentary examines and argues against several of the claims made in Gasland.
Awards
Won
- 2011 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming (Josh Fox)
- 2011 Cinema Eye Honor for Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design or Animation (Alex Tyson, Juan Cardarelli, and Eric M. Levy)
- 2010 Environmental Media Award for Best Documentary Feature
- 2010 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize
- 2010 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Artistic Vision award
- 2010 Thin Line Film Festival Audience Award
- 2010 Yale Environmental Film Festival Grand Jury Prize
- 2010 Sarasota Film Festival Special Jury Prize
Nominated
- 2011 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
- 2011 Writer’s Guild Award for Best Documentary Screenplay.
- 2011 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming (Josh Fox)
- 2011 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming (Josh Fox)
- 2011 Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Programming (Josh Fox)
- The above information was taken from Wikipedia