Hosted by Patagonia, June 5 screening in Georgetown will be moderated by The Washington Post’s Juliet Eilperin

Winner – SXSW Audience Choice Award
Winner – Documentary Award for Environmental Advocacy, Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital
Winner – MountainFilm Audience Choice Award

“DamNation [is] a quick, smart documentary about the havoc one country can create in its native fish populations by building 75,000 dams over an 80- or 90-year span.” The Village Voice

Media Contact:  Julia Pacetti, JMP Verdant, julia@jmpverdant.com, (917) 584– 7846

On June 5, Patagonia will host a special Washington, D.C., screening of DamNation, an award-winning documentary film odyssey that explores the sea change in our national attitude from pride in big dams as engineering wonders to the growing awareness that our own future is bound to the life and health of our rivers.

This special screening will be held at the AMC Loews Georgetown 14, at 3111 K Street NW, for invited guests. A limited number of tickets also will be available to the public. Immediately following the screening, Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post will moderate a panel including the following participants:

  • Renowned chef David Chang of Momofuku
  • Nez Perce Tribal Leader Rebecca Miles of Oregon
  • DamNation Co-Director Travis Rummel
  • DamNation Producer and Fish Biologist Matt Stoecker 
  • Newly Announced: Change.org Senior Campaigner Pulin Modi

The panel will explore the broad range of topics associated with dam removal – celebrating the great progress that has been made in breaching dams with low value but high environmental costs and discussing what must happen in Washington, D.C. in order for river restoration to move forward in places like the Snake River in Washington.

Specifically, David Chang will address the vital reasons why everyone should have a stake in restoring our rivers, especially those who care about the source of their food. Chang will discuss the impact of dams on the human and wildlife food chain, with wild salmon relying on healthy rivers, while dams cut off thousands of miles of salmon spawning habitat.

Following the screening and panel discussion, Patagonia will host an after-party at its Georgetown retail store, located at 1048 Washington Ave NW, featuring delicious dishes prepared using Patagonia Provisions wild sockeye salmon, harvested from abundant, sustainable fisheries. Patagonia launched the food line in 2012 to rethink the food supply chain and reexamine best practices in food sourcing. More information is available here.

The Washington event is the flagship in a series of DamNation screenings held at most U.S. Patagonia retail stores on June 5.  On June 6, the film will be available for the first time nationwide on Vimeo On Demand for digital viewing.

Surrounding the film’s appearances at festivals and other events around the country since March, Patagonia has asked people to get involved and ask President Obama to authorize studies on removing four problematic lower dams on the Snake River. Twenty-four thousand people have already signed Patagonia’s petition asking the administration to “crack down on deadbeat dams” – signatures that will be delivered to the White House at a later date.

Since its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival on March , DamNation has been hailed by The Los Angeles Times, The Village Voice, National Geographic and Time Magazine. Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard recently published an op-ed in The New York Times arguing for the removal of low value, high cost dams. 

Screening information

Thursday, June 5

Screening at 7:00pm; Panel at 8:30pm

AMC Loews Georgetown 14, 3111 K Street NW

Reception

Thursday, June 5

9:00pm

Patagonia Georgetown, 1048 Wisconsin Ave NW  

The filmmakers are available for interviews in Washington, D.C. on June 5.  Press screeners of the film are available on a limited basis, upon request. 

Media RSVP & Contact:

Julia Pacetti, JMP Verdant, julia@jmpverdant.com, (917) 584– 7846

 

About the Film

DamNation is a film odyssey across America that explores the sea change in our national attitude from pride in big dams as engineering wonders to the growing awareness that our own future is bound to the life and health of our rivers.  Dam removal has moved beyond the fictional Monkey Wrench Gang to go mainstream.  Where obsolete dams come down, rivers bound back to life, giving salmon and other wild fish the right of return to primeval spawning grounds, after decades without access. DamNation’s majestic cinematography and unexpected discoveries move through rivers and landscapes altered by dams, but also through a metamorphosis in values, from conquest of the natural world to knowing ourselves as part of nature.

Patagonia Founder and Owner Yvon Chouinard states, “I’m proud to have been involved. Time and again, I’ve witnessed how removing an unnecessary dam is the responsible and, eventually, celebrated choice. Ben, Matt and Travis show us why, and they’ve made a beautiful film.”

The film will be available for pre-buy on the DamNation website through Vimeo On Demand in March, and will be released on Vimeo, along with iTunes and a number of other digital platforms in June, after the theatrical release.

To view or embed the trailer on Vimeo, visit: vimeo.com/ondemand/damnation/89928979

DamNation is produced by Patagonia in association with a Stoecker Ecological & Felt Soul Media Production and is set for theatrical release in select cities beginning in April.

DamNation (87 min, U.S., 2014)  Directed by Ben Knight and Travis Rummel. Produced by Matt Stoecker and Travis Rummel.  Editor: Ben Knight. Director of Photography:  Ben Knight.  Director of Underwater Photography:  Matt Stoecker.  Associate Producer:  Beda Calhoun. Executive Producer: Yvon Chouinard.   Featuring: David James Duncan, David Montgomery, Elmer Crow, Rebecca Miles Jim Waddell, Floyd Dominy, Katie Lee, Lee Spencer and Mikal Jakubal.

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