“DamNation” to Screen in 23 Patagonia Stores Nationwide on June 5 and Available Widely on Vimeo On Demand on June 6

Film odyssey through America explores the sea change in national attitude about dams

Winner – SXSW Audience Choice Award
Winner – Documentary Award for Environmental Advocacy, DC Environmental Film Festival
Winner – MountainFilm Audience Choice Award

New York, NY (June 2, 2014) -- On Thursday, June 5, Patagonia will present free screenings of the award-winning, feature length documentary DamNation, in 23 cities nationwide. DamNation is a film odyssey across America that explores the sea change in our national attitude from pride in big dams as engineering wonders to the growing awareness that our own future is bound to the life and health of our rivers.

The following day, June 6, DamNation will be available for the first time nationwide on Vimeo On Demand for digital viewing. DamNation will be available to rent for $5.99 and to buy for $9.99.  As part of the brand's unique collaboration with Vimeo, Patagonia has curated a number of ecologically minded titles, including DamNation, in its Patagonia Selects collection on Vimeo On Demand.

Across the country, screenings will be hosted in Patagonia retail stores in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Boulder, Cardiff, Chicago LP, Denver, Freeport, ME, Georgetown, Palo Alto, Pasadena, Portland, OR, Reno, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, Seattle, New York City, St. Paul, Ventura, Washington, D.C. and Westport. For a full list of nationwide retail, festival and community screenings, visit: damnationfilm.com/screenings. Screenings in retail locations are free and open to the public.

Surrounding the film’s appearances at festivals and other events around the country since March, Patagonia has asked people to get involved and ask President Obama to authorize studies on removing four problematic lower dams on the Snake River.  Twenty-five thousand people have already signed Patagonia’s petition asking the administration to “crack down on deadbeat dams” – signatures that will be delivered to the White House at a later date.

Since its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival on March, DamNation has been hailed by The Los Angeles Times, The Village Voice, National Geographic and Time Magazine. Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard recently published an op-ed in The New York Times arguing for the removal of low value, high cost dams.

In addition to nationwide store screenings, DamNation will be presented on June 5 at a special Washington, DC event, including a special screening to be held at the AMC Loews Georgetown 14, at 3111 K Street NW, and a reception at the the Patagonia Georgetown store at 1048 Wisconsin, Ave, on the canal.  A limited number of tickets also will be available to the public. Immediately following the screening, Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post will moderate a panel including the following participants:

• Renowned chef David Chang of Momofuku
• Nez Perce Tribal Leader Rebecca Miles of Oregon
• Dylan Tomine, writer, conservation advocate and Patagonia Fly Fishing Ambassador
• DamNation Co-Director Travis Rummel
• DamNation Producer and Fish Biologist Matt Stoecker
• Newly Announced: Change.org Senior Campaigner Pulin Modi

The panel will explore the broad range of topics associated with dam removal, including the relationship between dam removal and the sustainable food source of wild salmon and other fish, celebrating the great progress that has been made in breaching dams with low value but high environmental costs and discussing what must happen in Washington, D.C. in order for river restoration to move forward in places like the Snake River in Washington.

About the Film

DamNation is a film odyssey across America that explores the sea change in our national attitude from pride in big dams 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 the 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. DamNation’s majestic cinematography and unexpected discoveries move through rivers and landscapes altered by dams, but also through a metamorphosis in values, from conquest of the natural world to knowing ourselves as part of nature.

Patagonia Founder and Owner Yvon Chouinard states, “I’m proud to have been involved. Time and again, I’ve witnessed how removing an unnecessary dam is the responsible and, eventually, celebrated choice. Ben, Matt and Travis show us why, and they’ve made a beautiful film.”

DamNation is produced by Patagonia in association with a Stoecker Ecological & Felt Soul Media Production and is set for theatrical release in select cities beginning in April.



DamNation (87 min, U.S., 2014)  Directed by Ben Knight and Travis Rummel. Produced by Matt Stoecker and Travis Rummel.  Editor: Ben Knight. Director of Photography:  Ben Knight.  Director of Underwater Photography:  Matt Stoecker.  Associate Producer:  Beda Calhoun. Executive Producer: Yvon Chouinard.   Featuring: David James Duncan, David Montgomery, Elmer Crow, Rebecca Miles Jim Waddell, Floyd Dominy, Katie Lee, Lee Spencer and Mikal Jakubal.

By press release