DamNation

Partially paddling the same waters as Return of the River (see review on this page), filmmakers Ben Knight (who also narrates and hosts) and Travis Rummel, both specialists in the fishing-adventure genre, depict the toll taken by rampant dam-building throughout the rapidly industrializing U.S. The once-triumphant engineering feats were instrumental in creating hydroelectric power and lakeside towns, but the dams also ruined salmon/trout runs, drowned sacred Native American sites, and occasionally caused flooding catastrophes (that well-engineered dams also prevented flooding isn't acknowledged). Recently, environmentalists—and the fact that aging dams are prohibitively costly to renovate—have inspired projects to raze the structures and let the rivers flow. Although the filmmakers seek input from the sputtering, offended pro-dam lobby, they obviously have no sympathy for that point of view, clearly siding with the "monkey wrenching" of late eco-writer Edward Abbey, a vocal opponent of dams. Other authors interviewed include David James Duncan, Dylan Tomine, and Katie Lee, the latter showing her portfolio of nude pics she took in the "Eden" that was Glen Canyon before it was dammed. The filmmakers themselves boast of bending/breaking the law a few times, sneaking past safety barriers to lens a dam demolition close-up and also creating some epic anti-dam graffiti in Oregon. Featuring both the full-length original film and a 52-minute abridged version, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)