Windfall the Movie, a documentary film By Laura Israelis, is playing at the Toronto International Film Festival.
It is a tapestry of interviews revealing the chronological series of events that unfolded for the Township of Meredith in upstate New York, as residents struggle with a wind developer planning to install 40, 500-foot tall industrial turbines in their beautiful rural paradise.
Filmed over two years, the film centers on the townspeople’s emotionally powerful story of social transformation. Meredith becomes a community in crises as greed and corruption poisons the local municipal government planning process for industrial wind turbine sites.
Long time friends and neighbours are pitted against one another, whilst the town struggles to come to terms with the truth of what is happening. The film reveals the deep emotional cost on both sides of the argument over wind energy. Sadly, the peace and harmony of the community is forever shaken, with long time neighbours and friends now silent to one another.
The film is visually arresting, with beautiful vistas of country homesteads nestled in valleys surrounded by ridgelines that the wind company wants to put turbines on. All that is beautiful and precious about rural life is skillfully woven into the film through candid interviews and glimpses of the homes and lifestyles at risk.
At one point, we are presented with testimony from people that are living with industrial wind turbines surrounding their homes. The audience hears and sees first hand the impact of low frequency noise, shadow flicker, and real estate devaluation. It is truly a wake up call.
Windfall ends with the dire warning from a neighbouring community that has been lost to the wind turbines. “Don’t let even one come into your area. Ask questions. Do your homework. Because once you let these guys in, your world will change forever and there’s not a thing you are going to be able to do about it.”
This movie eerily echoes the struggle here in Wellington County and rural communities throughout Southern Ontario. One key difference between Meredith and Wellington, is that the U.S. decision process was at the local level of government, and thus the decision makers were accessible and accountable.
James Virgin is a member of Oppose Belwood Wind Farm.
