The Milwaukee Film Festival is back for its 18th year starting April16. Among the films featured will be Gaslit.
The documentary takes viewers to the heart of the U.S. oil and gas industry — from Texas to Louisiana — to show how it impacts the land, air, water, and human lives.
Actor and activist Jane Fonda is the executive producer and appears in the film, which is directed by Kenosha, Wis. native Katie Camosy.
Camosy says she she's always loved movies. “Since I was a kid, I've been a cinephile. I studied it in college, and I've been working on them ever since,” Camosy says.
As she got established, Camosy says she worked on everything. "I made videos for YouTube about designers, about musicians. I followed bands in the U.K. for a while. I ended up in advertising for a bit. And that was a very intentional switch to go from advertising to Greenpeace and really wanting to make sure that the work I'm doing aligns with my values," she says.
Camosy told WUWM how she began to learn about the oil and gas industry in Texas and Louisiana.
“I was really struck when I went down to Port Arthur, Texas. It's a place we visit in the film. It's where John Beard lives. He's featured in the film. And it's right on the border of Texas and Louisiana. And I couldn't believe what I saw when I got down there. I didn't know what the Gulf Coast looked like, but I did not picture all of this polluting industry, all of the flares. And then when meeting people down there, it felt like everywhere you went, you just were hearing similar stories,” Camosy says.
Throughout Gaslit, viewers meet shrimpers, ranchers and others impacted by the industry.
“Whether it's the health impacts, the degradation of the environment — it was really shocking. Even when the crew and I were down there, we couldn't drink the water at most places, which is not something that I understood was happening here in the U.S. right now,” Camosy says.
Camosy says she found archival footage filmed by Greenpeace three decades ago.
“Diane Wilson, this fisherwoman in Texas, had worked with previous people at Greenpeace. So they had been down there like in the 1990s with a video crew and we actually unearthed a lot of footage that never got digitized that we use, which was really powerful to show," Camosy says. She adds that "it was also a little depressing that these issues are still happening and are worse now.”
Camosy met people who came together to speak out about the pollution. She says some were conservative, while others were liberal.
“It really is not a left or right issue once your water and your health and your livelihood is under threat. And we saw it over and over again, including bringing Jane Fonda with us. And she's speaking to Republicans and just as easy, you know, she can connect with anyone across the spectrum, which might surprise some people. When you watch the film, these are pretty unlikely allies: ranchers, shrimpers, and environmentalists," Camosy says.
The project took Camosy and her crew to Germany. She says Germany and most other countries in Europe have banned fracking, "but they're buying fracked gas from these pretty poor regions in the U.S. So there's a real hypocrisy there. And we wanted to bring over some people from the film and have them see what it's like there. And also talk to people in Germany who mostly didn't know what was happening and didn't know where in the supply chain is coming from or how much it's hurting other people (in the U.S.)," Camosy says.
In January 2024, industry leaders gathered in New Orleans for the 20th America's Energy Summit & Exhibition. Hundreds of people showed up to protest. Camosy and her crew were there, too. "And what I like about that march is not only do you have the fishermen there, the community organizers, people from all walks of life, but there's also joy in that — with the music and there's some dancing,” Camosy says.
She says resistance is hard but can also be joyful. "So, I thought that was a really great way to see people connected with each other, experiencing some joy,” Camosy says.
She describes working with Jane Fonda as incredible.
"She came with her big binder full of notes and dog-eared and questioning things and ready to go. And she didn't want a day off. She wanted to meet people. She wanted to film. She wanted to tell this story, and what a dream. I mean it's my first feature film to direct and having Jane's support throughout this, I mean , it's just so lucky,” Camosy says.
She says although it’s almost impossible to single out one person or scene in Gaslit, "the one region that just felt like I was on a completely different planet was the Permian Basin in West Texas. So, this is the largest drilling field in the United States," Camosy says. That's where she met Sharon Wilson.
“Sharon Wilson has a very high-end, industrial-level thermal camera. And with that, she can see the invisible emissions from all these facilities, including the methane, which is a big thing that we focus on. From the first time she drove me around, I knew I would never forget this because you look with your eye and you don't see anything. It's a beautiful day,” Camosy continues, “then you look through the camera and you just see huge clouds of methane. That just really made me sick to my stomach.”
At the same time, Camosy says the oil and gas industry seems to dominate the culture of nearby communities. "The banks have on their time, temperature, and how many new wells are being drilled. We went to this museum there, petroleum museum, and they have kids' rides and games (featuring) the different processes of drilling and what it feels like,” Camosy says.
Camosy says there are plenty of subjects for her to tackle as she continues her documentary career. But for now, she's focused on Gaslit.
“It was just shown at a European Union Parliament. We're working with the people in the film to make sure they can use it as a tool for their work. So, I'm focused on all that right now. But then, I love these kind of big issues, these social issues and working with people across the political spectrum,” Camosy says.
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