Event

Above All Else @ SLIFF

In "Above All Else," one courageous man risks his family and future to stop the tar sands of the Keystone XL pipeline from crossing his land. Shot in the forests, pastures, and living rooms of rural East Texas, the film follows David Daniel, a retired high-wire artist and circus performer, from the moment that he discovers survey stakes on his land, through years of activism and civic engagement, to four climatic days in September 2012, when Daniel makes a final stand against the pipeline. Backed into a legal and financial corner, he rallies an eccentric group of neighbors and environmental activists to join him in a final act of brinkmanship: a tree-top blockade of the controversial project. Inspired by his example, other East Texas residents and a band of young, Occupy-inspired activists embark on their own acts of civil disobedience with different degrees of success. What begins as a stand against corporate bullying and property-rights abuse becomes a rallying cry for climate protesters nationwide.