An Ode to Activism: The People Vs. the Pipeline

In Review: Above All Else

Former stuntman and circus high-wire artist David Daniel is the central character of writer/director John Fiege’s gripping film, Above All Else. This must-see documentary is literally a David versus Goliath, Daniel in the lions’ den drama of Biblical proportions that pits the ex-gymnast, fellow landowners, and environmentalists against TransCanada’s ruthless drive to construct a 1,700-mile pipeline from the Alberta Tar Sands to the Gulf of Mexico. The film portrays how the foreign transportation firm relentlessly buzzsaws, bamboozles, and bulldozes its way across America, using the law of eminent domain to fell trees and dispossess US citizens like Daniel of their private property.

photo of people on high trees in a forest, holding a sign with words, you shall not passphoto courtesy of Immigrant Workers FilmThe film is at its most dynamic when depicting the protesters like latter-day Robin Hoods and the Merry Men (and women!) in Sherwood Forest, fighting the good fight against the evil oily sheriffs of Nottingham.

Fiege’s film, shot largely with HD cameras, presents an insider activist’s view of the struggle against the Keystone XL oil pipeline, from the hinterlands of East Texas to the White House to Alberta. As allies rally to the anti-pipeline campaign, Above All Else takes viewers deep inside the movement. Like the Civil Rights feature Selma – wherein Martin Luther King is depicted as a master strategist deploying nonviolent civil disobedience tactics to end American apartheid and pressure Pres. Johnson to support the Voting Rights Act – Above All Else is a visual “how to,” demonstrating direct action techniques. It follows eco-warriors who, eschewing reliance on social media and virtual resistance, take to the streets in Washington and to the trees in Texas in order to block TransCanada and its hirelings – from surveyors to construction workers to sheriffs, and even “Keystone Kops,” pipeline security personnel posing as law enforcement officers.

Two veteran tree-occupiers – Julia Butterfly Hill (briefly seen in clips) and actress Daryl Hannah – are executive producer of this documentary. The filmpremiered at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival, with an international premiere at Hot Docs in Toronto. It won Best North American Documentary at the Global Visions Festival and a Special Jury Prize at the Dallas International Film Festival.

Fiege shows us how, using a variety of tactics – from the courthouse to street demos to forest and pipe occupations – pipeline opponents consciously aim to delay its construction, which costs TransCanada $1 million-plus per day, in order to financially bleed the corporation. We see intrepid tree-sitters staging treetop sit-ins, building 60 foot high platforms and blowing horns; courageous dissidents chaining themselves to trucks or creating a “schlockade” to block XL heavy equipment; 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben in a mass arrest of anti-pipeline demonstrators outside the White House; etc.

The film briefly touches upon the technology that squeezes heavy crude – dubbed “dirty oil” – out of sand and clay in the tar sands mines of Alberta that TransCanada seeks to ship to refineries in the Lone Star State. In aerial shots the Alberta Tar Sands looks as if it has been strip-mined. In a Democracy Now! clip McKibben describes it as being “the size of the UK… the second largest pool of carbon on earth” and quotes climatologist and former NASA scientist James Hansen warning it’s “game over” vis-á-vis global warming if the project reaches fruition. Potential toxic spills of this dirty crude are another concern the film touches upon.

Although clearly an anti-pipeline documentary, the big business party line is briefly presented onscreen in ads by TransCanada, with the slogan “Let the energy flow” and in “news” clips, notably on corporate shill Larry Kudlow’s CNBC show. Interestingly, TransCanada’s mouthpiece on Kudlow’s program proclaims he expects the demand for crude oil to increase. Another report states that “with oil approaching $100 a barrel there’s a mad dash to extract every drop possible” from tar sands.

However, given the fact that as of this writing the price per barrel has dropped below $50, this extremely expensive extraction and transshipment method raises the question about profitability and viability of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Over the course of the 95-minute film, we also get to see how President Obama’s position on the pipeline seems to change – from an XL pipeline apologist and supporter, to being more cautious and critical of it. And given the White House statement on Tuesday claiming that Obama would veto a bill, that’s scheduled to be voted on today, aimed at forcing construction of the pipeline, it’s clear that the advantage in this matter lies with the anti-pipeline side for now.

ABOVE ALL ELSE Trailer from John Fiege on Vimeo.

Like Jean-Luc Godard’s new Goodbye to Language, Above All Else cleverly incorporates footage of a dog, indicating an animal perspective on human activities. The trees sliced and diced to make way for the XL pipeline are reminiscent of the bodies of wounded and dead soldiers in that haunting post-battle Civil War scene in 1939’s Gone With the Wind.

In a last ditch effort to save his land and resist the oil transport leviathan, former circus performer David Daniel performs his riskiest high wire act ever. TransCanada puts tremendous legal and financial pressure on the man called “Daredevil” by his eco-comrades: Will he fall? Daniel frankly discusses the toll this struggle places on his family, admitting it’s “stressful” and that he “doesn’t sleep much” as he “goes up against a bully.” Indeed, if viewers look closely at the ponytailed, bearded redhead, it seems this David’s hair is turning grey as the corporate Goliath beats him down. In a photo accompanying press notes he holds crime scene-type yellow tape, marked “Caution,” over his mouth, as if he’s being gagged.

But while those depicted as being threatened and harassed by TransCanada may vacillate, there are many more like Daniel who don’t let go of their fighting spirit. Fellow Texan Eleanor Fairchild, a 78-year-old great-grandmother, joins the fray, declaring: “Somebody’s got to fight the big guys,” bravely putting her body in the way of heavy pipeline construction equipment.

Although Above All Else candidly shows the ups and downs of activism, it’s invaluable at showing how taking a righteous stand ennobles organizers. While those pistol-packing sheriffs and security guards and construction/destruction workers labor for paychecks, it’s principles that motivate activists.

Above All Else is at its most dynamic when depicting the protesters like latter-day Robin Hoods and the Merry Men (and women!) in Sherwood Forest, fighting the good fight against the evil oily sheriffs of Nottingham. As one tree-sitter says: “It feels good to be resisting, no matter how scared I am. I’m really proud of us.” With a planet at stake, another dissenter muses: “Doing nothing is a greater risk than taking action.” Despite the odds, the documentary shows there is nothing like the solidarity of ordinary people sticking together for a just cause. The film reveals the natural bonds of affection that form amidst such camaraderie and the self-respect people develop from rising up against injustice and refusing to obediently follow orders.

Fiege’s film – whose title may be an allusion to the famous quote in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, wherein Polonius sagely counsels his son: “This above all: to thine own self be true” – is clearly an ode to activists. Above All Else reveals that taking action to save the planet enables humans to be true to their inner selves, and it’s something the TransCanadas of the world, with all their pieces of silver, just can’t buy.

To host a screening see: www.aboveallelsefilm.com/host_a_screening.

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