Gasland

Fri., Sept. 3, 7:30 p.m., free, Piazza at Schmidts, Second Street and Germantown Avenue, rooftopfilms.com.


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Published: Sep 1, 2010

[ film ]

Damned is the social movement that can't explain itself. Gay rights, black power, pro-choice — all of these things are easy enough to grasp. Then there's the poor anti-hydraulic fracturing cadre. Their target — better known as "fracking" — is the abstruse method by which companies extract natural gas; it involves pumping water loaded with 500-some chemicals, many of which are classified, into the ground. Though environmentalists and journalists have been trying to stir up furor over fracking, none have been able to cut through its esotericism like Josh Fox's Gasland. Fox — who comes off like Ira Glass with an edge — travels from his home in Milanville, Pa., to the country's western coast to find all of fracking's casualties: the families who can light their polluted faucet water aflame; the ruralites suffering from the same mysterious, debilitating illnesses; and the woman who keeps carcasses of animals that have ingested unsanitary water in her freezer because, well, perhaps one day someone will care. Thanks to Fox, that time may have finally come.

Fri., Sept. 3, 7:30 p.m., free, Piazza at Schmidts, Second Street and Germantown Avenue, rooftopfilms.com.