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Upstream Battle
Directed
by
Ben Kempas
Germany / 2008 / 97:40
minutes
US Premiere |
Screening
Times and Venues:
Upstate Films II
10/03/2008, 12PM |
$8 |
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Woodstock Community Center
10/04/2008, 11:30AM |
$8 |
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The damming of rivers in the United States has always been a controversial topic, and that debate has never been more poignant than in Ben Kampas' revealing documentary. "Upstream Battle" is the story of the Karuk, Yurok and Hoopa tribes on the Klamath River in Northern California and their conflict with the energy giant PacifiCorp. PacifiCorp's four dams prevent the Pacific salmon, which the tribes have relied on for thousands of years, from returning to their natural spawning grounds. Now only a few thousand fish return to the Klamath each year. The dams are also believed to have created a toxic water flow that is responsible for the largest fish kill in U.S. history. "Upstream Battle" details the long struggle to remove the dams, but more importantly delves into the lives affected by the loss of this precious resource. Kempas delivers a potent story with a humanistic touch as we witness a struggle that may result in the largest dam removal project in U.S. history. (Michael Burke) |
Ben Kempas is a cinematographer and documentary filmmaker. He lives in Munich where he studied at the University of Film and Television. His previous films focused on the Scottish independence movement, on tabloid television in Germany, on courageous antinuclear campaigners, and on a intra-German "border violator." Ben writes for DOX magazine and is a co-host of The D-Word, a worldwide community of documentary professionals.
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Stan Blackley, Jakob Riedl (narrators), Merv George, Wendy George, Ron Reed, Craig Tucker, Richard Myers, Jeff
Mitchell, Toby Freeman, Robin Furness, Greg Addington, Lynn Long |
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Joachim Schroeder |
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Ben Kempas |
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Ben Kempas |
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Ben Kempas |
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Ben Kempas, Raimund Barthelmes |
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Sebastian R. Fischer |
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