Burning The Future
People:
David Novack (Director, Producer)
Steve Michelson (Executive Producer, Specialty Studios)
Steve Ladd (Marketing Director, Specialty Studios)
Margaret Poindexter (Community Engagement Director, Specialty Studios)
Grants:
$15,000 for outreach and audience engagement in 2011
Awards:
Pare Lorentz Award Winner, International Documentary Association (IDA) 2008
Clarion Award Winner, International Visual Communications Association, London 2008
Best Social Documentary, Society for Environmental Journalism 2009
About the Project
Burning the Future was one of the first films to provide a comprehensive view of the problems associated with Mountain Top Removal.The film premiered theatrically to rave reviews in February of 2008 and went into a vibrant festival release, earning numerous top prizes including the International Documentary Association’s Pare Lorentz Award for social filmmaking. Later that year, the Sundance Channel licensed the film and aired it through July, 2010. During that time, Burning The Future also showed on three PBS stations that collectively cover West Virginia – sparking intense conversation in the heart of the coalfields and contributing to the groundswell of grassroots work in West Virginia, Kentucky and beyond. Maria Gunnoe, the heroine of Burning The Future, received the coveted 2009 Goldman Prize for her grassroots activism, profiled in the film. The Civil Society Institute regards Burning The Future as the seminal film to have helped bring the Mountaintop Removal (MTR) and liquid coal slurry dialogue to the national stage.
The producer, Specialty Studios, the film’s distributor and engagement manager and partner NGO’s are building on the momentum already generated by this film to drive robust public support for the EPA’s continued enforcement of the Clean Water Act as it relates to Mountain Top Removal. The result of this enforcement is the public’s best defense to put an end to this devastating type of mining. Already the Massey mine, adjacent to Maria Gunnoe’s house and profiled in the film has been shut down.
By amplifying this story through a national Public Television release and associated petition campaign this story can become a model for other communities and individuals to cite.