RESISTANCE CINEMA Presents “GASLAND” a film by JOSH FOX, An International Wow Company Production, Produced by Trish Adeksic, Josh Fox, and Molly Gandour, written and directed by Josh Fox
(2010, 104 min)
WHEN: Sunday May 29, 2011 1:15pm
WHERE: Community Church NY Gallery Room, 28 East 35th St. btwn Park Ave & Madison Ave
ADMISSION: Free, donations appreciated
SPECIAL GUEST: David Braun of United For Action will lead a post screening discussion
The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton- developed drilling technology called "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a "Saudia Arabia of natural gas" just beneath us. But is fracking safe? In May 2008, filmmaker Josh Fox received a letter from a
natural gas company offering to lease his family’s land in Milanville, Pennsylvania for $100,000 to drill for gas. Following the lease offer he embarks on a cross-country road trip to find the answer to this question.
He looks for information about natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale under large parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia. He visits Dimock, Pennsylvania 
where natural gas drilling was already taking place. In Dimock, he meets families able to light their tap water on fire as well as suffering from numerous health issues and fearing their well water had been contaminated. This is just one of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new country called Gasland.
Fox sets out to see how communities are being affected in the west where a natural gas drilling boom has been underway for the last decade. He spends time with citizens in their homes and on their land as they relay their stories of natural gas drilling in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Texas, among
others. He speaks with residents who have experienced a variety of chronic health problems as well as contamination of their air, water wells or surface water. In some instances, 
the residents are reporting that they obtained a court injunction or settlement monies from gas companies to replace the affected water supplies with potable water or water purification kits. Part verite` travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown, Gasland is a cross- country odyssey with unexpected humor, uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination.
Throughout the documentary, Fox reaches out to scientists, politicians and gas industry executives and ultimately 
finds himself in the halls of Congress as a subcommittee was discussing the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act, "a bill to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to repeal a certain exemption for hydraulic fracturing." Hydraulic fracturing was exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Making appearances in the film are Dr. Theo Colborn, founder of the Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX); John Hanger, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP); Dr. Al Armendariz, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator for Region 6; Wilma Subra, MacArthur Award-winning chemist; Calvin Tillman, Mayor of Dish, Texas; Weston Wilson, EPA scientist; members of Congress Diana DeGette (Colorado), Dan Boren (Oklahoma), and Maurice Hinchey (New York); Albert Appleton, former New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner; Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President; and James Gennaro, New York City Council Environmental Board Chair.
DAVID BRAUN is the founder of United For Action, a volunteer group that helps shape public policy decisions in order to protect public health and promote sustainability on this planet through organizing and mobilizing groups of like-minded citizens. He was instrumental in launching the National Grassroots Coalition against fracking at NAT Gas. He also works to promote screenings of Gasland with Josh Fox and is a spokesperson for the film.