'FrackNation': Filmmaker to scout locations, including Dickinson, in North Dakota next week

• FrackNation

This image from the upcoming documentary " FrackNation" shows Martha, 78, who has lived in Dimock, Pa., all her life and is co-founder of a grassroots group that has fought claims that Dimock's water was polluted by drilling.

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WILLISTON — A filmmaker for the upcoming documentary “FrackNation” will be scouting for locations to film in North Dakota next week.

Ann McElhinney, who will speak in Minot on Tuesday and Bismarck on Wednesday, also plans to visit Dickinson, Williston and Glendive, Mont., during her trip.

McElhinney said this will be her first visit to the Bakken and she’s anxious to see the activity.

“It’s an incredible story and I just want to witness that myself,” McElhinney said Thursday. “North Dakota may well be included in the film.”

The film, being produced by Los Angeles-based company Ann and Phelim Media, is a response to the anti-fracking movie “Gasland” by Josh Fox.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves shooting water and sand laced with chemicals underground to create channels in the rock to recover fossil fuels.

Fox’s film presents a shocking anti-fracking argument, but McElhinney said it’s based on emotions and anecdotes.

“In the past, I have discovered that environmentalists are not always truth tellers,” she said.

McElhinney and her husband, Phelim McAleer, also directed “Not Evil Just Wrong,” which challenged Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.”

The “money shot” for Fox’s film is a scene where tap water is lit on fire, McElhinney said.

McAleer confronted Fox during a question-and-answer event about why he didn’t mention in the film that historical references indicate people were able to ignite natural gas in their water before fracking began. Fox replied that it wasn’t relevant, McElhinney said.

“We thought it was relevant, and we then started checking out the other claims in the film,” she said.

McElhinney said they heard a “stratospherically opposite” story from scientists and ordinary people affected by fracking restrictions.

Fundraising for “FrackNation” is continuing online at fracknation.com through this morning. The donations are on track to reach $200,000.

McElhinney said she is working to get “FrackNation” distributed before the November election.

Meanwhile, HBO has paid Fox $750,000 for “Gasland II,” McElhinney said.

And McElhinney said she’s learned that Matt Damon is set to star in a Hollywood anti-fracking movie directed by Gus Van Sant and co-starring John Krasinski.

“They’ll put together a very terrifying film,” McElhinney said.

McElhinney’s speaking events in Minot and Bismarck are being organized by the North Dakota Policy Council.

Dalrymple is a reporter stationed in the Oil Patch for Forum Communications Co.

Tags: hydraulic fracturing, oil patch, montana, oil, news, fracking, film, scout, energy, fracking, local