This award recognizes films that demonstrate exemplary filmmaking while focusing on the appropriate use of the natural environment, justice for all and the illumination of pressing social problems.
The Last Mountain
Director: Bill Haney
Producers: Clara Bingham, Eric Grunebaum, Bill Haney
Executive Producers: Tim Disney, Sarah Johnson Redlich, Tim Rockwood
Cinematographers: Jerry Risius, Stephen McCarthy
Writers: Bill Haney, Peter Rhodes
Editor: Peter Rhodes
Composer: Claudio Ragazzi
Uncommon Productions, Dada Films, New Video
The fight for the last great mountain in America's heartland pits a mining giant that wants to explode it for its coal against local families fighting to preserve their mountain, their heritage and their futures.The mining and burning of coal is at the epicenter of America's struggle to balance its energy needs and environmental concerns, so the daring solution proposed by this small Appalachian community takes on national significance when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joins the Appalachian families to fight the insidious power of Big Coal. A passionate and personal tale that highlights the extraordinary force of ordinary Americans when they fight for what they believe in, The Last Mountain showcases a battle for the future of energy that affects us all.
BILL HANEY has written, produced and directed award-winning documentary and narrative features for 10 years. Among his documentary accolades, The Price of Sugar was short-listed for the Academy Award and nominated for the NAACP's Image Award, and earned the Audience Award at South by Southwest; A Life Among Whales won numerous awards, including a Silver Hugo and the Earth Watch Film Award; and Racing Against the Clock won the Mass General Hospital/Harvard Medical School Humanitarian Award and the Humanitarian Prize from the Senior Olympics. In addition to filmmaking, Haney founded Blu Homes, which uses advanced technology to make housing greener, healthier and more affordable, and is chairman of World Connect, which supports programs to help women and children in 400 developing world villages.