Sundance Channel - Television Premiere!

On Tuesday, May 13th at 9:35, Burning the Future: Coal in America will have its National Television Premiere on The Sundance Channel. Please check local cable/satellite service to make sure Sundance Channel is included in your tier of service.

BTF will be played as part of their "The Green" series of eco-focused films, shorts and other media. It will play three times that week, and again during re-run seasons of "The Green."

Please watch the film and post a review on Sundance Channel's website - linked above and:
http://www.sundancechannel.com/films/500318591

Thoughts on the W.V. Premiere

I brought my kids. They sat, side by side, with kids their age. Kids who have been fighting for clean water and against mountaintop removal. My daughter sat with Donetta Blankenship's daughter - who in the film cries as her mother leaves her overnight for the first time ever, on her way to the United Nations to take a stand. That morning 3 years ago when I filmed at Donetta's home, the her kids were frightened and ill. Now, her daughter sits with mine. They'd both straightened their hair, put on a little too much make up as teenagers do, and sat down to watch the film. They could have been two friends going to the mall together. It's a constant reminder that kids are kids, and people are people, and what divides us is so petty when compared to what brings us together.

The screening went very well. We schlepped hi-def gear from NY to give the brightest, clearest picture possible. Boy....independent filmmaking at its best...playing projectionist as well. It was SO worth it.

The Q &A was spectacular. But what touched me the most was the response when I reiterated that there are groups all over the country who are fighting coal-fired power plants. It made the folks in WV understand that their battle is part of a larger war, and that they aren't alone. Spontaneous applauds and tears made it all hit home.

I'm a lucky and changed man to have spent all these years outside of my Brooklyn box and out in the world with my friends in West Virginia.

Next day, I took the kids into the woods for a hike. We came across an old mine from the 20's and picked lumps of coal off the trail. The spring air was rejuvenating with wildflowers and trees in bloom. It was a piece of the real West Virgina, the one that has to be preserved.

I didn't let them drink the water.

West Virginia Premiere - EARTH DAY

Coming full circle this week as I bring Burning the Future: Coal in America to West Virginia for its first public screening in the coal fields.

West Virginia International Film Festival
WVSC Capitol Center Theater
123 Summers Street, Charleston
Tuesday, April 22nd at 6:30.

I have been looking forward to this event, and I hope to see folks from "all sides of the many aisles" that make up public opinion and discourse in West Virginia. I will be on hand for Questions & Answers after the screening, and would love to have a great debate. That's what the film is for - to challenge everyone's thinking on the issues.

Hope to see as many West Virginian's as possible there!

DVD Update - Ready for Purchase SOON

The DVD has been held up a few weeks. Why? Because we are developing an incredibly powerful "Coal Impact Guide" - a sort of "Everything you've ever wanted to know about coal, mountaintop removal, slurry, powerplants, emissions, health effects, and what YOU CAN DO about it." This will be a ROM portion on the DVD, so after you watch the film and the 4 short films that make up the video extras, pop the DVD into your computer and go for a self-guided tour through the Coal Impact Guide.

I look forward to feedback of all sorts, especially on the Coal Impact Guide. There will be an online version of the guide, so it will evolve over time.

The DVD's will be for sale - AT THE LATEST - by May 13th. I am hoping that they will be ready a week earlier.

AFI/Dallas Film Festival

This week, Burning the Future screened at the AFI/Dallas International Film Festival. What a terrific ride. Audiences were packed and the Q&A's were very lively. It was particularly interesting to be in Texas - the state the burns more coal in power plants than any other in America, AND generates more wind power than any state in America! What a great dichotomy in a great state.

I hope this leads to AFI/Los Angeles in the Fall. Keep posted for more screening information.