The efforts of several Bent Mountain residents who fought to protect their land from the Mountain Valley Pipeline has been immortalized in a new documentary set to premiere at the Grandin Theatre in Roanoke.
“A Beast Touch the Mountain” will be screening at 7 p.m. Monday and James Mottern, the film’s writer and director, will be present for the screening as well as some of people featured in the film. They will be available for questions after the movie.
Mottern, who grew up in Winchester, originally heard about the residents of Bent Mountain and their fight against Mountain Valley Pipeline from his friend and eventually executive producer of the film, Diana Harrington. From that he learned about the efforts of Theresa “Red” Terry who sat in a tree for 34 days to prevent crews from clearing a path for the pipeline and was later labeled as a domestic terrorist.
“I came down thinking I was just gonna make a short little film about Red Terry going up a tree and as I interviewed people and began to understand the length and breadth of this pipeline, imminent domain and all the politics and money behind it, it just kind of unwrapped itself from there and got bigger and bigger,” Mottern said.
The film not only follows the efforts of Terry and several other women who fought to keep Mountain Valley Pipeline off their property, Mottern also looks at the process in Washington, D.C., that pushed the pipeline through when it started facing legal battles along the way. He mentioned what he called “backroom deal” that made sure the pipeline was completed.
Facing multiple legal challenges that delayed construction, in 2023 the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which raised the debt ceiling, added a provision authorizing all remaining permits and shielding Mountain Valley Pipeline from further legal challenges. The act was signed into law by President Joe Biden, but Mottern said both Democrats and Republicans worked together with the fossil fuel industry to assure the project was completed, which he details in the documentary.
“It made me really understand that this is beyond politics,” Mottern said. “Sometimes in this country it’s who’s the Democrat and who’s the Republican. Who’s the good guy and who’s the bad guy. What I understood and what is described in the film is it really doesn’t matter if there is a Democrat or Republican in the White House or in charge of Congress because these pipelines get pushed through no matter who is in office and that is because of the amount of money that is behind it.”
Mottern began filming the documentary in late 2023 as work on the pipeline was nearing completion. He spoke with people along Bent Mountain and surrounding areas who lost their property due to eminent domain and fought hard to keep it.
While their fight in stopping the pipeline may have ultimately been unsuccessful, Mottern said the documentary shows women who did not back away from what they believed in. Their efforts likely cost Mountain Valley Pipeline millions, if not billions, of dollars and will likely force other corporations to think twice before trying to seize the land of residents in rural communities.
“They really underestimated these women,” Mottern said. “Older women are sometimes ignored, but these women rallied.”
The documentary is currently playing in theaters in New York and Los Angeles. Mottern said it will be showing throughout the area as well with its premiere Wednesday at the Grandin Theatre.
Mottern expects the documentary to be available on streaming services in early November. The film’s trailer can be found on YouTube.
Jason Dunovant (540) 981-3324
jason.dunovant@roanoke.com
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