My mother attended the Moab screening of Wrenched and had nothing but good things to say about it. She sat next to Ken Sleight, Ed Abbeys inspiration for charachter Seldom Seen. She even got a few hugs. While there are no more planned screenings at this time, they need our help and donations will go towards new screenings and bringing the film to DVD. Thanks for the heads up Mom.

From the Wrenched website – ‘Filmmaker ML Lincoln’s documentary Wrenched reveals how Edward Abbey’s anarchistic spirit and riotous novels influenced and helped guide the nascent environmental movement of the 1970s and ‘80s. Through interviews, archival footage and re-enactments, ML Lincoln captures the outrage of Abbey’s friends who were the original eco-warriors. In defense of wilderness, these early activists pioneered ”monkeywrenching” – a radical blueprint for “wrenching the system.” Exemplified by EarthFirst! in the early ‘80s, direct action and civil disobedience grew in popularity. With tree-spiking, forest occupation and high-profile publicity stunts such as the cracking at Glen Canyon Dam, this group became the eventual target of FBI infiltrators, leading to the arrest of various members.

Abbey’s message has lived on. Young activists are carrying the monkeywrenching torch, using his books as a source of inspiration. Wrenched captures a new generation as personified in Tim DeChristopher, who single-handedly stopped the sale of 100,000+ of acres of public trust lands in southeastern Utah. He was sentenced to federal prison for his actions. The fight continues to sustain the last bastion of the American frontier – the Wild West. And Wrenched, following in Abbey’s footsteps, asks the question, how far are we willing go in defense of wilderness?’

“Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am — a reluctant enthusiast… a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.” -Ed Abbey