Rooftop Films Gasland Tour

About the Project

Rooftop Films is a non-profit organization whose mission is to engage and inspire diverse communities by showing movies in outdoor locations, producing new films, teaching filmmaking to young people, and renting low-cost equipment to artists and non-profits. Rooftop Films brings underground movies outdoors.

But Rooftop Films is more than a film festival. They are a community. They are a collective collaboration between filmmakers and festivals, between audience members and artists, between venues and neighborhoods. Their goal is to nurture a vibrant independent filmmaking community not only by exhibiting the work of low-budget filmmakers but also by providing essential support systems for those who otherwise have none. Rooftop Films is keeping this vital mode of filmmaking alive and well in New York City and beyond.

As a part of this mission, Rooftop Films, together with the Fledgling Fund and International WOW Company, took Josh Fox’s important and powerful documentary Gasland on a six-city tour through New York and Pennsylvania in 2010. The goal was to create awareness around the dangers of natural gas drilling presented by the film in the communities most likely to be affected by these dangers. In this way, the film was transformed from a passive audience experience to a concrete catalyst for change. At each stop on the tour, Rooftop Films facilitated activities to activate and energize the audience around the issues raised by Gasland, including petition signing, awareness building around upcoming gas drilling legislation, and education about best next steps to influence that legislation. In addition, each show included performances by local musicians and performance artists, presentations by community organizers, politicians, and local celebrities, and discussions between the audience, filmmaker Josh Fox, politicians, activists, and citizens affected by drilling.

By reaching out to a wide variety of local organizations and media outlets, Rooftop Films was able to attract crowds of hundreds to every show. From the large numbers of petitions signed, literature distributed, and donations collected, to the spirited debates, to comments from the audience such as “I can’t believe they’re getting away with this,” it was clear that everyone in attendance left determined to do whatever they could to protect their drinking water from natural gas drilling. For Rooftop Films and the Fledgling Fund, two organizations committed to media that creates social change, it was inspiring to see the mission of Gasland have such a profound effect on such a large number of people.

The Fledgling Fund Impact

The Fledgling Fund is pleased to support this collaboration with Rooftop Films. It was clear to us that the message in Gasland needed to be shared with as many people as possible in New York and Pennsylvania. This collaboration with Rooftop Films made that possible.