DamNation Film Screening and Panel Discussion
Bennington will host a screening of the documentary DamNation on Wednesday, October 22 at 7:00 pm. The screening will take place at the Center for the Advancement of Public Action (CAPA), and will be followed by a panel discussion. This event is free and open to the public.
With stunning cinematography, DamNation explores the 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. Where obsolete dams come down, rivers bound back to life.
"Water is the most important resource that we have,” said Bennington College faculty member Susan Sgorbati. “The film we are screening examines our use of dams in this country for hydropower and water use. With the increasing impacts of climate change and global warming, hydropower is a source of energy we need to address, while at the same time facing the serious problems that large dams force us to confront."
“From an early age we are taught that we are responsible for cleaning up our own mess. But this lesson also applies to our home planet. When we despoil a place with toxic waste, change our climate with fossil fuels or build a destructive and soon-to-be useless dam, we have the responsibility to clean it up and make it all whole and natural again. Time and again, I’ve witnessed how removing an unnecessary dam is the responsible, and eventually celebrated, choice,” said Yvon Chouinard, the executive producer of DamNation and the founder of Patagonia, the California-based outdoor clothing company.
The panel discussion following the film will include:
- Rep. David Deen, Chair, Vermont House of Representatives Committee on Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources; and Connecticut River Watershed Council
- Brian Fitzgerald, Vermont Natural Resources Council
- Bill Scully '94, Carbon Zero, LLC
- Amy Singler, American Rivers
The film has won numerous awards, including SXSW 2014 Audience Choice - Documentary Spotlight; Environmental Film Festival at Yale 2014 Audience Choice; 5Point Film Festival 2014 Best of Festival; Green Film Festival in Seoul 2014 Peoples Choice; MountainFILM 2014 Audience Award; and San Francisco Green Film Festival 2014 Best Feature Award.