Bidder 70 tells a uniquely American story. Only in the United States would the president auction off protected wilderness to energy and mining companies to help the government turn a profit. Only in the U.S. would a college student show up to the auction and outbid the companies, then be taken to court and ultimately thrown in federal prison for falsifying his bids. That president was George W. Bush, of course. The wilderness was in Utah. And the college kid, Tim DeChristopher, proves a fascinating subject for Beth and George Gage's new documentary. Grown up and dressed alternately in a suit and tie or hiking boots and shorts—his natural attire—DeChristopher uses his first act of civil disobedience to set into motion a larger organization, Peaceful Uprising, which is...
- 5/15/2013
- Village Voice
In celebration of Earth Day, environmental documentary "Bidder 70" will be shown in theaters across the country on April 22. Documenting activist Tim DeChristopher's trial and conviction for disrupting a federal oil and gas lease auction in Utah, the film will screen one day after his release from federal prison.
As HuffPost previously reported, the 31-year-old received a two-year prison sentence in 2011 for bidding on, and winning, millions of dollars worth of land parcels under false pretenses at a Bureau of Land Management auction in 2008.
DeChristopher's case also drew attention from environmentalists, including many who saw him as acting in the name of conservation and climate action. He was "acting on behalf of every landscape left on the planet," argued author Bill McKibben.
The film, which is being distributed by Gathr Films, will be released in a crowd-funded "theatrical-on-demand" format. Individuals must order a ticket in advance, but they will only...
As HuffPost previously reported, the 31-year-old received a two-year prison sentence in 2011 for bidding on, and winning, millions of dollars worth of land parcels under false pretenses at a Bureau of Land Management auction in 2008.
DeChristopher's case also drew attention from environmentalists, including many who saw him as acting in the name of conservation and climate action. He was "acting on behalf of every landscape left on the planet," argued author Bill McKibben.
The film, which is being distributed by Gathr Films, will be released in a crowd-funded "theatrical-on-demand" format. Individuals must order a ticket in advance, but they will only...
- 3/5/2013
- by James Gerken
- Huffington Post
Who is "Bidder 70?" A new film from husband and wife documentarians George and Beth Gage examines the case of 30-year-old environmental activist Tim DeChristopher, who derailed a federal oil and gas lease auction for public land in southern Utah in 2008.
The film, which was shown this week at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York City, follows DeChristopher for three years during the much-delayed criminal investigation and federal trial that culminated in a guilty verdict and his two-year prison sentence in March 2011.
Through the film, DeChristopher's story is punctuated by delays in the trial that ultimately forced him to confront the fate that had been looming over him for so long. Emboldened by the support he received from members of his Unitarian church and the Salt Lake City-based group Peaceful Uprising, DeChristopher visited mountaintop removal mining sites in West Virginia and lent his voice to rallies for...
The film, which was shown this week at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York City, follows DeChristopher for three years during the much-delayed criminal investigation and federal trial that culminated in a guilty verdict and his two-year prison sentence in March 2011.
Through the film, DeChristopher's story is punctuated by delays in the trial that ultimately forced him to confront the fate that had been looming over him for so long. Emboldened by the support he received from members of his Unitarian church and the Salt Lake City-based group Peaceful Uprising, DeChristopher visited mountaintop removal mining sites in West Virginia and lent his voice to rallies for...
- 6/21/2012
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
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