THE FILM
THE COAL WAR WINS THE 2009 NEW YORK FILM GRANT
Chad A. Stevens, aspiring Appalachian filmmaker, is the recipient of the 2009 Roy W. Dean New York Film Grant, “one of the largest film grant competitions in the world.”
The film,The Coal War, directed and produced by Chad A. Stevens, is the story of a symbol: one mountain destined to be destroyed by the coal industry and one woman’s struggle to save Coal River Mountain by creating the first sustainable energy project in the Appalachian coalfields, the Coal River Wind Farm. The film follows the story of Lorelei Scarbro and the Coal River Wind Campaign through to the final showdown – protests on the mountain, in a court of law, in the state legislature, in the governor’s office, and in the national offices of the EPA. As Scarbro says, “This is a David versus Goliath story. I know what we are doing is right, but just because you are right doesn’t mean you’ll win.”
The grant, which funds “films that expose and bring important information to light,” awards recipients an array of products, services and consultations from New York area sponsors.
LOGLINE
One idea.
One mountain.
An opportunity for change.
Set among a backdrop of one million acres of decapitated mountains blown up by the coal industry, a movement begins the fight to save one of the last untouched Appalachian mountains and create an environment for sustainable energy and a diverse economy.
SYNOPSIS
This is the story of a symbol: one mountain destined to be destroyed by the coal industry and the struggle to save Coal River Mountain by creating the first sustainable, green jobs project in the Central Appalachian coalfields: The Coal River Wind Farm.
Coal River Mountain is an ancient Appalachian cradle of rolling ridges and nestled hollows, providing refuge for delicate wildlife and a home to a unique mountain culture. But just beneath the surface lays something that calls into question the mountain’s very survival: $4.3 billion worth of coal. Massey Energy, the largest practitioner of mountaintop removal coal mining in West Virginia, holds permits to clear-cut 6,450 acres of hardwood forest, detonate thousands of tons of explosives and topple the mountain range into over nine miles of streams in the valleys below.
Since the 1960s, residents in the coal fields of West Virginia have fought to preserve their land, only to watch the coal industry continue to destroy mountains and uproot their ways of life. While the consequences of coal and mountaintop removal mining are severe – lethal flooding, water contamination, cancer pockets and the annihilation of the land on which families have lived for generations – the powerful coal companies have remained unstoppable. Recently, however, new hope has appeared in the form of a viable energy alternative to mountaintop removal: Wind Power.
This film documents a campaign that could serve as the foundation of one of great shifts in human history – the movement to break the addiction to a fossil fuel-based economy and shift to one rooted in renewable, green energy.
Go to From the Heart Productions, the project’s fiscal sponsor, and donate.
Become a fan on Facebook.
The courageous campaign to save Coal River Mountain is a community effort led by many people in Appalachia. Learn more about the Coal River Wind Campaign.
Learn more about Mountaintop Removal and Coal River Mountain Watch.
Music by Pamela Chen and Elaine Purkey.
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