DamNation (NR)

synopsis

The change in our national attitude regarding big dams is explored in this documentary. It has transformed from having pride in them 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 Edward Abbey's 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. We observe rivers and landscapes altered by dams and also the metamorphosis in values, from conquest of the natural world to knowing ourselves as part of nature.