From Patagonia:
Patagonia today launched the award-winning documentary film DamNation on iTunes and through several On Demand services. DamNation is a film odyssey that explores the sea change in our national attitude from pride in big dams as engineering wonders to the growing awareness that our own future is bound to the life and health of our rivers.
The film will be available through iTunes rental for $3.99/$4.99 (SD/HD) or purchase for $7.99/$9.99 (SD/HD). Viewers can also watch it on demand via Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Bright House, Verizon, Charter, Suddenlink, AT&T, Google Play, VUDU, Amazon, PlayStation, and Xbox.
Through its festival tour, DamNation has grabbed the attention of audiences and several major awards, including:
– SXSW Audience Choice Award 2014
– Documentary Award for Environmental Advocacy 2014, Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital
– MountainFilm Audience Choice Award 2014
– Best Conservation Film 2014, International Wildlife Film Festival
– Grand Jury Prize and Audience Choice 2014, Environmental Film Festival at Yale
– Best of Festival, 5Point Film Festival
– Nigel Moore Award, DOXA
– People’s Choice and Best Feature Film 2014, Green Film Festival in Seoul
– Best Feature Award 2014, San Francisco Green Film Festival
On June 5, Patagonia presented free screenings of DamNation in 23 cities to audiences totaling more than 6,400 nationwide. Twenty-six thousand people have already signed Patagonia’s online petition urging President Obama to authorize studies on removing four problematic lower dams on the Snake River – and thousands more have signed petition postcards.
DamNation has been hailed by The Los Angeles Times, The Village Voice, National Geographic and Time Magazine. Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard published an op-ed in The New York Times arguing for the removal of low value, high cost dams.
About the Film
DamNation is a film odyssey across America that explores the sea change in our national attitude from pride in big dams as engineering wonders to the growing awareness that our own future is bound to the life and health of our rivers. Dam removal has moved beyond the fictional Monkey Wrench Gang to go mainstream. Where obsolete dams come down, rivers bound back to life, giving salmon and other wild fish the right of return to primeval spawning grounds, after decades without access. DamNation’s majestic cinematography and unexpected discoveries move through rivers and landscapes altered by dams, but also through a metamorphosis in values, from conquest of the natural world to knowing ourselves as part of nature.
Patagonia Founder and Owner Yvon Chouinard states, “I’m proud to have been involved. Time and again, I’ve witnessed how removing an unnecessary dam is the responsible and, eventually, celebrated choice. Ben, Matt and Travis show us why, and they’ve made a beautiful film.”
DamNation is produced by Patagonia in association with a Stoecker Ecological & Felt Soul Media Production and is set for theatrical release in select cities beginning in April.
DamNation (87 min, U.S., 2014) Directed by Ben Knight and Travis Rummel. Produced by Matt Stoecker and Travis Rummel. Editor: Ben Knight. Director of Photography: Ben Knight. Director of Underwater Photography: Matt Stoecker. Associate Producer: Beda Calhoun. Executive Producer: Yvon Chouinard. Featuring: David James Duncan, David Montgomery, Elmer Crow, Rebecca Miles Jim Waddell, Floyd Dominy, Katie Lee, Lee Spencer and Mikal Jakubal.
