PRESS RELEASE: DRILL BABY DRILL
Lech Kowalski’s new documentary film, Drill
Baby Drill will have its American premiere at The Uptown Theater in Utica
on Saturday, March 16 at 4 PM. Mr. Kowalski, a former Utica resident and UFA
graduate, will be present for the
screening and for the discussion and question and answer period that will
follow the 84 minute film. Mr. Kowalski has won wide renown over his 35-plus
years as an independent film maker whose large body of work has won awards and
been the subject of retrospectives at several major international film
festivals. Drill Baby Drill was shown recently in the French Senate, on
French and German television (with high ratings) and will be shown to the
European Parliament in April, prior to theatrical release.
The film, which was made in Poland and in
Pennsylvania, tells the story of a small group of Polish farmers who band
together to protect their land from being used for the drilling of shale gas
(hydrofracking). It also looks at the effects that ongoing drilling is having
on farmers and their communities in PA. Its subject matter should be of strong,
immediate interest to citizens of central New York where energy companies are
leasing land with plans to do similar gas drilling. The film raises important
questions about corporate power and its effect on democracy and about the
tensions between our need for new energy sources and the need to protect our
land and water. The film’s power derives in part from its refusal to provide
easy answers to the questions it raises.
The Other Side of Utica is sponsoring the
screening. Tickets are $5. The proceeds from the event will go to support The
Uptown, The Other Side and Hydro Relief Web.
