Red Gold (2008)

The Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska is home to the Kvichak and Nushagak rivers, the two most prolific sockeye salmon runs left in the world. Two mining companies, Northern Dynasty Minerals and Anglo American, have proposed an open-pit and under-ground mine at the headwaters of the two rivers. The area is the second largest deposit of copper, gold and molybdenum ever discovered and has an estimated value of more than $300 billion. Despite promises of a clean project by mining officials, the accident-plagued history of hard rock mining has wrought one of the biggest land use issues Alaska has ever faced. Red Gold is our attempt to give a face to the issue, and give a voice to the people of Bristol Bay who depend on this extraordinary fishery. We set out to create a different kind of environmental documentary--one that gives all sides a chance to be seen and heard. Red Gold is more about the place and its people than the facts and numbers. For the first time, Bristol Bay's subsistence, commercial and sport-fishing communities have joined together for a common cause.