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My Page: Doug Hawes-Davis

Clip of the Week

Editor’s Note: High Plains Films, the Missoula-based non-profit documentary shop responsible for such films as Libby, Montana and Brave New West is offering a film clip each week here on our pages. This week, High Plains Films is showcasing the third in a series of clips from the one-hour their one-hour documentary, El Caballo: The Wild Horses of North America. Click on the video to watch and see Doug Hawes-Davis’ description below.

Dan Flores, professor of history at the University of Montana, talks about the decimation of wild horses across the American West during the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. Before working on the film, we really knew very little about the subject, but once we were involved we found it a fascinating story of evolution, history, ecology and environmental policy. The film is edited by Dru Carr. It is directed and produced by Doug Hawes-Davis. The original score by Ned Mudd, most of which is available for free download at www.highplainsfilms.org.

Video Bite

Editor’s Note: High Plains Films, the Missoula-based non-profit documentary shop responsible for such films as Libby, Montana and Brave New West is offering a film clip each week here on our pages. This week, High Plains Films is showcasing the second of a series of clips from the one-hour their one-hour documentary, El Caballo: The Wild Horses of North America.

In this clip, Dan Flores, professor of history at the University of Montana, talks about the the concept of wild horses as a native species to North America. Before working on the film, we really knew very little about the subject, but once we were involved we found it a fascinating story of evolution, history, ecology and environmental policy. The film is edited by Dru Carr. It is directed and produced by Doug Hawes-Davis. The original score by Ned Mudd, most of which is available for free download at www.highplainsfilms.org.

Editor’s Note: High Plains Films, the Missoula-based non-profit documentary shop responsible for such films as Libby, Montana and Brave New West is offering a film clip each week here on our pages. This week High Plains Films is showcasing the first of a series of clips from the one-hour their one-hour documentary, El Caballo: The Wild Horses of North America.

In this clip, Jay Kirpatrick of ZooMontana talks about the natural history of wild horses. During the coming weeks, we’ll present several more clips from the movie. Before working on the film, we really knew very little about the subject, but once we were involved we found it a fascinating story of evolution, history, ecology and environmental policy. The film is edited by Dru Carr. It is directed and produced by Doug Hawes-Davis. The original score by Ned Mudd, most of which is available for free download at www.highplainsfilms.org.

High Plains Films

Editor's note: With all the buzz surrounding big "W" wilderness the last few weeks, (link opens chronology of four years of NewWest.Net coverage) spurred by Sen. Jon Tester's new forest legislation and the languishing Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, we are featuring clips from the documentary American Values, American Wilderness as the High Plains Films Clip of the Week. Click on the image to play and see filmmaker Doug Hawes-Davis' comments on the clip below.



This clip is from the introduction to the film, AMERICAN VALUES, AMERICAN WILDERNESS, Directed by Chris Barns and narrated by Christopher Reeve. It features a historic audio recording of President Johnson speaking at the signing of the Wilderness Act in 1964. More about the documentary at www.highplainsfilms.org [more]

Film in the West

Editor's note: With all the buzz surrounding big "W" wilderness the last few weeks, (link opens chronology of four years of NewWest.Net coverage) spurred by Sen. Jon Tester's new forest legislation and the languishing Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, we thought this week's Clip of the Week selection from High Plains Films, appropriate. Click on the image to play and see filmmaker Doug Hawes-Davis' comments on the clip below.



This clip is the television trailer for the PBS documentary, AMERICAN VALUES, AMERICAN WILDERNESS, directed by Chris Barns and produced and edited by High Plains Films. Given the recent debate over Montana Wilderness in the news and the U.S. Congress, we thought we should post a few clips from our work on the subject. The documentary is narrated by Christopher Reeve and was one of his last on-camera appearances. Reeve was a strong supporter of Wilderness and environmental causes in general. The trailer includes camera work by Doug Hawes-Davis, Ken Furrow and Dru Carr. The music featured in the trailer is from the original score by Ned Mudd. Much of the music from the score is available for free download from www.highplainsfilms.org. [more]

Editor's Note: High Plains Films, the Missoula-based non-profit documentary shop responsible for such films as Libby, Montana and Brave New West is offering a film clip each week here on our pages. This week, as Congress debates new legislation that deals with how to manage wild horses in the West, High Plains Films shows the trailer from the one-hour their one-hour documentary, El Caballo: The Wild Horses of North America.

The film and the trailer were both edited by Dru Carr and Doug Hawes-Davis is the director and producer. From Doug:

Before working on the film, we really knew very little about the subject, but once we were involved we found it a fascinating story of evolution, history, ecology and environmental policy.


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High Plains Films Clip of the Week

Editor's Note: High Plains Films, the Missoula-based non-profit documentary shop responsible for such films as Libby, Montana and Brave New West, has been documenting the work going on in Montana's Bonner/Milltown community outside of Missoula, where the Milltown Dam has just been removed, allowing the Clark Fork River to flow freely for the first time in 100 years. Below, filmmaker Doug Hawes-Davis explains the following clip:

This is a "deleted scene" that documents the first couple of days of the removal of the small Stimson Dam at the lumber mill site on the Blackfoot River. It's not likely to be in the final film, but because it is substantially edited, we thought it would be fun to post here. It also features nice cinematography by former Missoula filmmaker, Valerie Krex and music by former Missoula rock band, This is a Process of a Still Life. The song is titled, "The Possibility of Flight" from their CD, "Light." The soundtrack for the film TWO RIVERS (working title) will feature more music from "Process" as well as our long-time collaborator from Birmingham, Alabama, Ned Mudd and Portland-based dobro player, Ivan Rosenberg. We're hoping to complete the movie by Summer 2010. This segment was edited by Doug Hawes-Davis.



Click here for more NewWest.Net clips of the week from High Plains Films. [more]

High Plains Films

In this scene from our feature documentary, "Libby, Montana," former mine-worker, Bob Wilkins, talks about the irony of the cover-up in Libby and former Plant Manager, Earl Lovick, answers questions about the company's moral obligation to inform mine and mill workers about the health risks present there. Dru Carr and I shot the interview with Bob Wilkins in 2000. The scene from the closing of the mine is from a Libby home movie recorded in 1990. Earl Lovick's commentary is from a deposition recorded during a civil case against WR Grace in the 1990s. Lovick died in 1996.

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High Plains Films Clip of the Week

In this scene from our feature documentary, "Libby, Montana," EPA Emergency On-Scene Coordinator, Paul Peronard, speaks with a geologist about the hazards of Libby vermiculite. Later in the scene, former plant manager, Earl Lovick, answers questions about what WR Grace knew about these hazards and whether or not they had a responsibility to inform mine and mill workers about the health risks. Dru Carr and I documented the interaction with Paul and the geologist at the Libby EPA office in 2001. Earl Lovick's commentary is from a deposition recorded during a civil case against WR Grace in the 1990s. Lovick died in 1996.



For more information about the film, trailers, audio downloads, external links, reviews, blogs and more please visit either the official site for the film at High Plains site here or on the PBS site here.

Editor's Note: Look for the High Plains Films clip of the week every Friday on our pages. This month, as the W.R. Grace trial grinds on in Missoula (click here for coverage), the clips come from the High Plains feature documentary Libby, Montana, which explores the company's contamination of the community.

Bookmark www.newwest.net/highplainsfilms for archives. [more]

High Plains Films

This is the third installment in our series of clips from the feature documentary, LIBBY, MONTANA. Bob Wilkins, who was the local union rep for mine workers, talks about how he discovered there was asbestos in the dust at the mine and mill operations. Wilkins died of asbestos related disease in 2002. Dru Carr and I shot the interview with Bob in 2000. Earl Lovick was the plant manager for many years. His commentary here is from a videotaped deposition recorded during a civil case against WR Grace in the 1990s. Lovick died in 1996.

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