A Deeper Focus

03
Sep

Don’t miss the screening of the Edward Abbey documentary “Wrenched” at the Palm

Edward Abbey

Central Coast Bioneers and the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival are collaborating on a screening of the documentary Wrenched which exams the colorful life of “The Monkey Wrench Gang” author Edward Abbey. Abbey was a novelist infamous for his views on the environment and his criticism of public land policies. His stories warn about the consequences of over-development, particularly in the Southwest. His most riotous novel, “The Monkey Wrench Gang,” depicts a small gang of monkey-wrenchers, non-violent (to people) but not so forgiving to earth-destroying bulldozers, maniacal dam builders and to the countless billboards littering the landscape.

Interviewed in the film are Abbey contemporaries and collaborators Doug Peacock, Ken Sanders, John De Puy, Ken Slight and Dave Foreman. The images of subversive satirist R. Crumb, who illustrated some of Abbey’s books, are used throughout the film. Wrenched captures the passing of the monkey wrench from the pioneers of eco-activism to the new generation which will carry Edward Abbey’s legacy into the 21st century, including Tim DeChristopher, known as the “paper monkeywrencher,” filmmaker and activist Craig Rosebraugh, and Center for Biological Diversity Director Kieran Suckling.  The fight continues to sustain the last bastion of the American wilderness – the spirit of the West.

The film will screen at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, September 16 at the Palm Theater, 817 Palm Street. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students and can be purchased at the door. A question and answer discussion will take place after the film.

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