October 9, 2014
This Sunday, Oct. 12, F.I.L.M. in partnership with Environmental Studies, will bring director Josh Fox to KJ’s Bradford Auditorium to discuss his documentary Gasland II. The film is a sequel to the Academy Award-nominated Gasland, which helped promote a national discussion on hydraulic fracking. Fracking is the practice of using liquid at high pressure to divide rocks and release natural gas. It has been seen as a controversial method of obtaining gas due to alleged side effects such as water contamination and air pollution. The practice is prohibited in New York.
When a natural gas company attempted to lease his family’s land, Fox began a journey that would end with him becoming one of the most outspoken critics of hydraulic fracking in the country. Hank Stuever of The Washington Post describes Fox as “a banjo-plucking, horn-rimmed-hipster filmmaker in his late 30s.” In his debut film Gasland, Fox makes it his mission to uncover the truth behind hydraulic fracking. Fox criticized the U.S. government for being influenced by powerful natural gas companies. For example, he points fingers at politicians like Dick Cheney, who supported legislation that allowed companies to circumvent the 1972 Clean Water Act. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described the original Gasland as “a powerful film,” while Eric Kohn of Indiewire called it “first person activist filmmaking done right.” The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2010.
As in its predecessor, in Gasland II Fox demonstrates how fracking affects the daily lives of average Americans. Fox films men and women who can light on fire the water from their faucets and hoses due to the contamination from fracking. However, the sequel takes a broader focus in exposing what Fox sees as the failure of U.S. government agencies to impede fracking practices. In doing so, the film emphasizes the relationship between big business and government.
In a 2013 Climate Change Address, President Obama pointed out fracking as a viable way of reaching natural gas and create jobs. Though natural gas companies may extol the economic benefits of fracking, Fox insists that the practice is not worth the tradeoff.
“It’s like the witches in Macbeth,” Fox said in his appearance on The Daily Show. “The witches say to Macbeth, ‘Oh you’re going to be king,’ and they leave out the part about how, you know, you’re going to have to kill all your friends, your wife’s going to go crazy and commit suicide and you’re going to be dead in three days.”
Sunday’s screening of Gasland II is free and open to the public, and Fox will participate in a discussion after the film. The original Gasland is available to watch on Netflix Instant.
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