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JUST SPREADIN' THE WORD... ABOUT THE FLIK

NEW DOCUMENTARY AND PANEL DISCUSSION SCHEDULED TO EXPLORE EFFORTS TO PROTECT SACRED MOUNTAIN

Indigenous Action Media and the Navajo Nation Museum would like to invite the general public to the premiere screening of the documentary “The Snowbowl Effect,” on January 14, 2005, at the Navajo Nation Museum Auditorium in Window Rock, Ariz. The presentation will also offer further understanding and audience involvement with a panel discussion regarding Arizona Snowbowl Ski Area’s controversial expansion proposal to make artificial snow from wastewater on the San Francisco Peaks in Northern Arizona.

The first showing will begin at 5 p.m. and a second showing will begin at 7 p.m., with the panel discussion to take place at 6 p.m. The panel will include director Klee Benally, Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council Lawrence T. Morgan (Iyanbito/Pinedale) and representatives from the Save the Peaks coalition and the Sierra Club. The event is free and open to the public.

In “The Snowball Effect,” director Benally explores the controversy surrounding snowmaking with wastewater and the recently-proposed ski resort expansion on the San Francisco Peaks. Native American tribal officials and spiritual leaders, Forest Service officials, and concerned citizens discuss the issues, including sacred lands protection, public health concerns associated with groundbreaking studies on wastewater, economic misconceptions, threats to the environment, global warming and a small community caught in the conflict.

With comments from biologists, economists, tribal officials and traditional practitioners, ski resort representatives, environmentalists and a former U.S. secretary of the Interior, “The Snowbowl Effect” is a clear and moving documentary that is sure to inspire and inform.

Benally has been the projects director of the non-profit media group Indigenous Action Media (IAM) for over two years. He has been a media activist for over six years, producing short documentaries and offering consultation for various indigenous media campaigns. Benally is also an entertainer with the Native American Music Award-winning rock group Blackfire and the internationally-acclaimed traditional dance group The Jones Benally Family.

The film will also be shown at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, on February 20, 2005. Two screenings – one at 1 p.m. and another at 3 p.m. – will be shown at the Steele Auditorium, with a panel discussion at 2 p.m.

“The Snowbowl Effect” running time is 59 minutes.

For more information, contact Eunice Kahn from the Navajo Nation Museum at (928) 871-7941 or visit the following website: http://www.savethepeaks.org/snowbowleffect