Friday Harbor Film Festival spoke with RED GOLD co-director Travis Rummel on December 17, 2020 to learn more about how this film came about and the current status of the Pebble Mine.

This pre-recorded filmmaker Q&A is available to watch for FREE through September 30, 2021.

ABOUT THE FILM

At the headwaters of the Kvichak and Nushagak Rivers in Bristol Bay, Alaska—the two largest remaining sockeye salmon runs on the planet—mining companies Northern Dynasty and Anglo American have proposed to extract what may prove to be the richest deposit of gold and copper in the world.

Colorado filmmakers Ben Knight and Travis Rummel spent more than two months in Bristol Bay, documenting the tension between mine officials—who say they will build a “clean” mine that will leave the salmon’s habitat untouched—and local fisherman who oppose the mine. This exquisite film goes beyond the conflict, offering a portrait of a unique way of life that wouldn’t exist if the salmon don’t return with Bristol Bay’s tide. 

Produced by Felt Soul Media (Running Down the Man and The Hatch) and Trout Unlimited Alaska, Red Gold is a one-hour documentary film on the proposed Pebble Mine told through the unique and disparate voices of commercial, subsistence and sport fishermen of Bristol Bay, Alaska. “[Making this film] has been the most important thing I’ve ever done in my life,” says co-director Ben Knight.