Two AAC members are producing a documentary film about the proposed damming of the remote Baker and Pascua rivers in Chilean Patagonia, along with a 1,500-mile power line to Santiago. Michael Friedman and Jonathan Light of Nature’s Edge Productions have received support from the Independent Feature Project in New York to explore the story behind this project.

Patagonia Dammed: Ungreening the Green Desert will examine the issues behind the five-dam HidroAysén project in depth. “Our intent is to create an informed, lucid, and entertaining film that explores the issue in-depth, using cinematography that captures the beauty and grandeur of the area,” says a summary on the Nature’s Edge website. “We will accomplish this by examining the debate through the perspective of the individuals most closely involved, creating a strong account of each side’s opinion. The executive from the company behind the project and the Santiago resident who will benefit from its power will view the dams quite differently from the farmer in Aysén whose land is threatened, or the environmental advocate who wishes to see the project halted because their belief that the damage to Patagonia is too great.”

One of the environmental advocates the filmmakers hope to feature is AAC member Doug Tompkins, an ardent preservationist in Chile. In April, Tompkins told the Santiago Times, “The impact of the wires is far greater than the dams.... They’re talking about 20 million hectares [over 40 million acres] of impact in one way or another all the way to Santiago.”

Donations toward the $163,000 cost of the film are being solicited. To make an online donation, visit JustGive.org. Enter "Patagonia Dammed" in the "Designate My Donation" field. These tax-deductible donations will be processed and sent to the Independent Feature Project, sponsor of the film.