Review of Gasland (2010) by Asif K — 07 Jul 2011

As American energy firms look for new sources of petroleum, natural gas has become an increasingly important part of their portfolios, especially after the 2005 Energy Policy Act (created with the participation of Dick Cheney, a former executive with energy giants Halliburton) removed environmental protection restrictions against hydraulic fracturing drilling (known in the trade as "fracking"). Since then, gas drilling has been sharply on the rise, and when Josh Fox, a theatrical director and filmmaker, was offered $100,000 for the gas rights to family property on the Delaware River Basis in Pennsylvania, he was curious about the possible effects of drilling. Fox set out to talk to other property owners about what he could expect, and their answers startled him -- fracking taints water sources near drilling sites, and many households have discovered their water is not only undrinkable after gas drilling, it's even flammable. It turns out this is just the tip of the iceberg of the environmental damage done by reckless gas drilling, and in his documentary Gasland, Fox travels to 34 states and talks to dozens of property owners and environmental experts on the under-reported menace of fracking and the truth about the dangers of natural gas. Gasland was an official selection at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Among the very few documentaries I have seen this is one of them. and it is a great one, a must see. a very shocking movie that made me sad, disturbed with what is going on and really angry. I got really scared with what they have shown, horrible conditions made my those gas companies for the people living there. there water is contaminated by all those gases. obviously a hazardous health scare. they show some scenes that were really scary like tape water or the natural pond water catching fire. it won and got nominated for awards including an Oscar nomination. with such a serious and stressful topic this documentary was interesting one to watch. well directed and written and well shown all the issues.