Patagonia is one of my longest clients—after all, they published the “image that helped launch my career.” I consider many of the folks at Patagonia not just close friends, but mentors and role models. I’ve being hearing buzz about this film “DamNation” for years while it was in the making, so it was incredibly satisfying to finally get to see the finished film this past weekend.
This is one of the most powerful and well-made environmental documentaries I’ve seen. I was really blown away, not just by the story “DamNation” tells but also by the austere, documentary-style footage captured by directors Travis Rummel and Ben Knight. “DamNation” explores the issue of what dams are doing to the health and vitality of our rivers. It tells the story of country that once took pride in dam construction projects as engineering marvels and symbols of national pride to now showing what kind of damage dams have done to our rivers’ health.
Perhaps the greatest achievement of “DamNation” is its fair, equally weighted coverage of this important issue. I really felt as if I was being presented both sides of the story, which is no small accomplishment for any documentary and in fact, is a sign of storytelling mastery. Hats off to filmmakers and directors Ben Knight and Travis Rummel, and producers Matt Stoecker and Beda Calhoun.
Finally, hats off to the entire team at Patagonia for supporting important documentary projects such as this one. I think it’s admirable that a guy like Yvon Chouinard has consistently proven that he’s the kind of visionary, in both the business and social sense, to put his money where his mouth is and fund the important things he cares about.
Job well done by the entire team. This is a wonderful piece of filmmaking.
Check out the film’s homepage to find a list of screenings, as well as a link to purchase the film on Vimeo on Demand.
