Yellowscene Magazine profiles filmmaker Brian Hedden and Fracking the System

Read the whole article here, written by Thomas Rutherford:

“Brian Hedden is more than a documentarian. He’s an activist, a journalist, a badass. His most recent work is still in the editing stage but is a film called Fracking the System: Colorado’s Oil and Gas War. Produced by Hedden’s company, Earth Dog Films, the film is about the devastation the oil and gas industry causes in our beautiful state and the brave souls fighting against it. I was granted the opportunity to see the film and was truly blown away by its power, its rage, its small moments of beauty captured amongst the chaos. It comes off like a ‘70s conspiracy thriller like The French Connection or All the President’s Men in that it is filled with such extreme tension and paranoia that it can be easy to forget that this is a very real, very true story happening in our home. 

In watching the film, I first was struck by the sheer tenacity of Hedden. I don’t want to give any of the film’s surprises away, but he himself becomes a subject in his own documentary in an incredibly intense way. The sheer bravery it takes to stand up to such a massive, powerful, ruthless industry really impressed me. 

Hedden describes himself as an activist from an early age, saying, “Community service has always been a part of my upbringing.” This is evident in the way he speaks and carries himself with a sort of easy confidence that comes with one who has an awareness of all the darkness in the world yet chooses to keep fighting in the light. 

There is a shot in the movie that sticks with me. The shot itself was taken by Hedden’s creative partner Lisa Gross. It’s a shot of a stuffed Lorax next to a withered picket sign. The shot evokes such melancholy and power, saying so much about the film’s subject in just one second. I don’t want to give the context away, but it shows the creators’ eye for symbolism and ability to use art to make a real difference. “