''Windfall'' is a 2010
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
directed by
Laura Israel about the reaction of residents in rural
Meredith, New York
Meredith is a town in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 1,529 at the 2010 census. It is an interior town in the northern part of the county.
The town was named for Samuel Meredith.
History
The town was formed in 180 ...
(in
Delaware County, New York
Delaware County is a county located in the US state of New York. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 44,308. The county seat is Delhi. The county is named after the Delaware River, which was named in honor of Thomas West, 3 ...
) to a proposal to place numerous
wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each yea ...
s in their community to harness
wind power
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically ...
. It is notable that the film was made by an interested local citizen rather than an organization.
Summary
The film begins in 2004, when energy companies approached several property owners in Meredith, offering cash payments to allow the long-term placement of wind turbines standing over 400 feet tall on their land. The documentary portrays Meredith residents as deeply divided over the idea. Some believe the economic and energy benefits are worth investigating. Others are concerned about the towers being an eyesore, loss of property values, or posing a variety of hazards such as collapse, accumulation of ice which is then flung from the turbines in large chunks, or health problems attributed to
low frequency noise. Residents of
Lowville, New York
Lowville is a town in Lewis County, New York, United States. The population was 4,888 at the 2020 census, are also interviewed, expressing regret at installing wind turbines in their community.
After an often rancorous debate, the citizens vote out the current officials who were promoting wind energy, and were not amenable to enacting a protective wind ordinance. The newly elected officials in Meredith subsequently passed a citizen-friendly wind law, and the developer decided to leave the community.
The film is composed mostly of interviews with Meredith residents. Also included are excerpts of news broadcasts, films of town council meetings, and computer-animated segments.
Reactions
Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, writing that the film "left me disheartened. I thought wind energy was something I could believe in. This film suggests it's just another corporate flim-flam game." He notes that there is doubtless a legion of wind-power activists and lobbyists who would counter-argue the points made in ''Windfall'', but asks "How many of them live on wind farms?" In a review for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', Andy Webster writes that Israel's film tends to "overheat" but raises important questions: "The quest for energy independence comes with caveats. Developers’ motives must be weighed, as should the risks Americans are willing to take in their own backyard."
Turbines in the Backyard: The Sound and the Strobes
New York Times, February 2, 2012
See also
* Environmental impact of wind power
References
External links
Official Website
*{{IMDb title, 1581829, Windfall
American documentary films
Documentary films about alternative energy
2010 documentary films
Wind power in the United States
Delaware County, New York
Films shot in New York (state)
2010 films
2010 in the environment
Documentary films about New York (state)
2010s English-language films
2010s American films