PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Cara White, CaraMar Publicity, 843/881-1480, cara.white@mac.com
Mary Lugo, CaraMar Publicity, 770/623-8190, lugo@negia.net
Florentine Films/Hott Productions Inc., America's River Communities, Inc. and WVIZ/PBS ideastream® Present
The Return Of The Cuyahoga
Airing Nationally on PBS Stations on Friday, April 18th at 10PM
THE RETURN OF THE CUYAHOGA is a fascinating look at the life, death and rebirth of one of America's most polluted rivers. Best known as "the river that burned," the Cuyahoga is, in fact, an emblematic waterway. Its history is the history of the American frontier, the rise of industry, and the scourge of pollution. In 1969, when the river caught on fire, the blaze ignited a political movement that restored the Cuyahoga and its communities, and lit the way for America's environmental movement. THE RETURN OF THE CUYAHOGA will air nationally on PBS on Friday, April 18th at 10PM (check local listings.)
The Cuyahoga caught fire as far back as 1883. In 1914, a river fire threatened downtown Cleveland, until a providential shift in the wind turned it away. In 1918, a river fire spread to a shipyard and killed seven men. The Cuyahoga burned again in 1936, 1948, 1949 and 1952. Then on June 22, 1969, the polluted Cuyahoga, slick with oil and full of debris, caught on fire. The river didn't just burn in Cleveland - it burned in the nation's imagination. Along with the rise of other social movements in the late sixties, the country was beginning to take note of our damaged environment. The 1969 Cuyahoga fire accelerated this awareness, preceding the first Earth Day by ten months, and leading the way for the passage of sweeping new laws, such as the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act, and the creation of Environmental Protection Agencies at the federal and state levels. The Cuyahoga is America's clearest example of a river that came back to life when the communities along it came clean.
"This is a truly national story," says filmmaker Larry Hott. "Rivers in industrial cities across the country were catching fire due to the build up of oil, waste and debris. The Rouge River in Michigan, the Schuylkill in Philadelphia, and the Chicago River all burned as often and as drastically as the Cuyahoga."
About the Cuyahoga River
When the United States was a new nation, the Cuyahoga marked the western frontier: beyond it, all was unclaimed land - American Indian Territory. But by 1870, the river was on a frontier of a different kind: the industrial frontier. On the river's banks rose America's definition of progress at the time - booming factories - whose byproducts emptied right into the Cuyahoga. As it flowed through Akron and Cleveland, the river became a foul-smelling channel of sludge, with an oily surface that ignited with such regularity that river fires were treated as commonplace events by the locals.
After many fires, the river burned again in 1969 just as a third kind of frontier swept across the nation: the modern environmental movement. And the Cuyahoga River became a landmark on this frontier too, a poster child for those trying to undo the destruction wrought by the rampant industrialization of America.
"This is a good news story, something we don't often hear about the environment nowadays," says Hott. "The river was a mess forty years ago but it's getting better now due to the efforts of a coalition of organizations and businesses. For the Cuyahoga, and perhaps other rivers in America, there's reason to hope."
The Cuyahoga's story is a particularly apt example for future environmental efforts, because the river can't just be "set aside" as a pristine wilderness park - it runs right through Cleveland, after all. And, like most American rivers, the Cuyahoga has to serve widely varying needs - aesthetic and economic, practical and natural, human and animal. The challenge sounds impossible: how to maintain industrial uses of the river, encourage recreation and entertainment, and still preserve the nature in and around the river.
"Ultimately, the story of the Cuyahoga is a story of the relationship between nature and human nature," says Executive Producer Len Materman, who runs America's River Communities, Inc. "Just as the Cuyahoga's fire illuminated the need for us to address the condition of our rivers, the actions of Cuyahoga communities to make their region more livable can light the way for all Americans."
Diane Garey and Lawrence R. Hott of Florentine Films/Hott Productions produced and directed THE RETURN OF THE CUYAHOGA. The pair has received numerous honors including an Emmy, the Peabody Award, two Academy Award nominations and in January 2008, a duPont-Columbia Journalism Award.
THE RETURN OF THE CUYAHOGA is distributed for educational and home video use by Bullfrog Films at 800-543-3764 or bullfrogfilms.com.
Funding for THE RETURN OF THE CUYAHOGA provided by Peter B. Lewis, The Cleveland Foundation, McDonald Hopkins LLC, The Lubrizol Foundation, The Abington Foundation, The GAR Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, The Akron Community Foundation, The Ohio Humanities Council and the Davey Tree Company.
Credits
Produced and directed by Lawrence R. Hott and Diane Garey, written by Ken Chowder. Executive Producer Len Materman. Co- Executive Producer Ted Esborn. A co-production of Florentine Films/Hott Productions, Inc., America's River Communities, Inc. and WVIZ/PBS ideastream®.
