The VALVE TURNERS documentary team has some exciting news to share! We have offers from two distributors, for both digital and theatrical releases this fall/winter!
But we’re in a bit of a bind right now.
We screened the festival cut for audiences across the country last year and it was incredibly encouraging to see the strong and thoughtful response the film received. It took home awards from the Climate Film Festival, Wild & Scenic Film Festival, Doc Only, and Sundarban International Film Festival as well.
Now, to get the film streaming and in theaters we need to raise at least $10,000 for final sound mix/design, E&O insurance, motion graphics and fair use certification.
Film Summary:
In VALVE TURNERS, a small group of activists travel to remote valve sites and take a daring stand against the fossil fuel industry. Acting in solidarity with the protests at Standing Rock, they carry out a plan to disrupt the entire flow of tar sands oil from Canada into the United States. Pipelines carrying 2.8 million barrels per day are halted, evoking a firm backlash from the fossil fuel industry and local authorities. Charged with 27 felonies and 15 misdemeanors, they face a protracted legal battle at district courts in Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and Washington. At jury trials in each state, their team of attorneys defends their tactic as a necessary response to the climate emergency.
The Team:
Steve Bonds-Liptay (Director/Producer) is a cinematographer and editor of the award-winning HBO documentary How to Let Go of the World (and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change) which premiered at Sundance 2016. That same year, he co-directed and produced DIVEST!, a concert film about fossil fuel divestment and began filming VALVE TURNERS. Steve's photography has appeared in Rolling Stone, The New York Times and
The Boston Globe.
Matthew Sanchez (Producer/Editor) is an Emmy nominated filmmaker whose work ranges from documentary to experimental, often combining the two. Most notably he is editor, cinematographer & co-creator of the Oscar nominated and Emmy winning, Gasland series.
Over his career, his editorial & camera work has been integral for numerous feature documentaries for HBO & Netflix, commercials for VH1, documenting the underground NYC music scene, & working with varied clients such as the DGA, Wired Magazine, College Humor, Sephora & PBS.
John Paul Horstmann (Producer/Editor) is a producer, writer and editor. His films have debuted at Cannes, Sundance, and Tribeca and have sold to major distributors. His feature film editing credits include Assassination of Jesse James and Killing Them Softly. In documentary, he has written and edited three films which premiered at Tribeca, Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston (2010), Revenge of the Banana (2015), and I Want My MTV (2019).
Martin Crane (Original Music) is a NY-based composer whose most recent projects include the Hulu doc-u-series, Stolen Youth, the Darren Aronofsky produced doc-u-series, Black Gold (Paramount+), the 2024 SXSW doc The Antisocial Network, and Cannes short The Pass.
After releasing two albums and touring nationally under the name Brazos (4 million + streams on Spotify), Martin started working in film as the music supervisor on the Oscar-nominated documentary, Cutie and the Boxer. Since then, his scoring work has premiered at Cannes, Sundance, SXSW, Berlinale, and Full Frame.
Press Links:
'I'm Just More Afraid of Climate Change Than I Am of Prison' (NYT Magazine)
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/magazine/afraid-climate-change-prison-valve-turners-global-warming.html
The Sunday Read: The Valve Turners (The Daily, New York Times)
Pipeline Vandals Are Reinventing Climate Activism (WIRED)
This Landmark Trial of Climate Activists Puts the Political System Itself on Trial (The Nation)
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/this-landmark-trial-of-climate-activists-puts-the-political-system-itself-on-trial/
Climate Direct Action: Activists Halt Flow of Tar Sands Oil by Shutting Off Valves of Five Pipelines (Democracy Now!)
Celebrities rally behind filmmaker arrested in pipeline protests (CBC)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/celebrities-rally-behind-filmmaker-arrested-in-pipeline-protests-1.3805823
Valve-Turning Protestors (living on earth)
Organizer
