Progressive Cinema presents ‘GasLand’, a compelling and emotional first-person story of discovery and empowerment, at 7.30pm on August 10, at the Armidale Club.
In September 2006, theatre director and part-time banjo player Josh Fox received an unexpected letter in the mail: a natural gas company offering him $100,000 for permission to explore his family’s upstate New York property, in the lush Delaware River Basin area.
Rather than join many of his neighbours in signing on the dotted line, Josh’s curiosity saw him asking questions. He soon discovered that in the race for ‘cleaner’, greener and more efficient energy sources, the largest natural gas drilling boom in history is sweeping the globe. In the US, the Halliburton-led drilling technology of hydraulic fracturing (or ‘fracking’) has unlocked a “Saudi Arabia of natural gas”.
So Josh picked up his camcorder, and set out on a journey across America’s heartland. His personal concerns quickly uncover global ones, as the citizens of ‘GasLand’ testify to what’s been happening around them. It becomes evident that the multi-million dollar business of fracking has contaminated the water supply, the corporate giants are in cover-up mode, and the PR-spun government has not only turned a blind eye, it has regulated itself out of the picture.
Rough-hewn yet poetic, the film is a desperate plea for scrutiny of a powerful industry that has now turned its eyes on a new, massive and, for now, largely unexplored territory: Australia.
“In Queensland and New South Wales, the coal seam gas industry is targeting some of our most productive farming land – at a time of growing concerns about food security,” said Bea Bleile, Convener of Socialist Alliance New England (SANE), which initiated Progressive Cinema.
“We support the Lock the Gate Alliance which was formed to protect our soils and water. The Alliance is planning a national day of action against coal seam gas mining in October and Michael and Julie McNamara are touring NSW to rally community support. ‘GasLand’ is a good lead-up to their visit to Armidale on September 29.
The film will screen at 7.30pm on Wednesday, August 10, at the Armidale Club, 91 Beardy Street. All welcome, entry: $5 concession, $10 regular or $15 solidarity.
