A century ago, railroad tycoon Edward Henry Harriman,
one of the most powerful men in America, decided to take a little
vacation – in the form of one of the most ambitious expeditions
ever to be staged in America. Harriman invited twenty-five scientists,
writers and artists to join him on a 9000 mile exploration of the
coast of Alaska.
In the summer of 2001, a Smith College expedition,
carrying a similar group of scientists, writers and artists, retraced
Harriman’s route. This two-hour film explores issues Harriman
faced, and some he couldn’t even imagine. What are the subsistence
hunting rights of Alaska citizens? What is the future of the Alaska
fisheries? What will tourism do the coastline? What will global
warming do the glaciers? Should more wilderness be set aside, or
should the state’s enormous resources be tapped to the utmost?
This film is two hours long.
CINE Golden Eagle
Washington, D.C. Environmental Film Festival
Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival
Newport Beach Film Festival
Philadelphia Film Festival
Earthvision Environmental Film Festival
Columbus International Film Festival
Telluride Independent Film Festival
National PBS broadcast, 2003
Bullfrog Films
PO Box 149
Oley, PA 19547
(800) 543-FROG or (610) 370-1978
www.bullfrogfilms.com
There is a study
guide to accompany this film, as well as more information and
images at: www.pbs.org/harriman
Click here
to download a transcript for this film.
The Natalie P. Webster Trust
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations
The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust
The Allen Foundation for the Arts
The Town Creek Foundation
Andreas Foundation
David Rockefeller, Jr.
ARCO Foundation
Koniag Corporation
NANA Corporation
John Todd and Dorothy Nemetz
ING Foundation
Special thanks to the Harriman Foundation Group, the Gladys and
Roland Harriman Foundation, the Mary H. Rumsey Foundation, and the
Mary W. Harriman Foundation for their generous support of the 2001
expedition and the education programs for this project.
A Presentation of KTOO, Juneau, Alaska in association with Florentine
Films/Hott Productions Inc. and the Clark Science Center, Smith
College.
