JBFC, WCF Kick Off Community Matters 2011

(JBFC), in partnership with the Westchester Community Foundation (WCF), with a screening of The Last Mountain, a film directed by Bill Haney and featuring Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

The film depicts a battle that is being fought over a mountain in West Virginia's Coal River Valley, where a small, but passionate group of ordinary citizens are trying to stop mining enterprises from continuing the practice of “Mountain Top Removal”–literally blasting off the tops of mountains to extract coal.

According to Catherine Marsh, executive director of the Foundation, “We chose The Last Mountain as the inaugural film for the Community Matters series because it is about an assault on a real community and real people. Everyone who saw the film was moved by the people of West Virginia who are fighting for their community and their children’s health.”

Leading the post-screening discussion was the Burns Center’s Executive Director Steve Apkon, who stressed this film represents a battle of epic proportions–a very small David versus a huge and well-funded Goliath–small town families against “Big Coal.”

Said Kennedy, “The bottom line for Big Coal is sheer profit–profit at the expense of the health and safety of its employees and neighbors, the integrity of the landscape and the future of the entire region.

Added Marsh, “Westchester needs a place where people from throughout the county can come together and exchange views. We know that the Burns Film Center is a great place to bring people together and nothing stirs conversation like a documentary film.”

Click here to check out theatres where you can view The Last Mountain.