Hellbent | Wild Commons
A small town protects a big salamander
In rural Pennsylvania, the only source of clean drinking water for 700 people — and the refuge of a rare salamander — is put at risk by a proposed fracking waste injection well.
HELLBENT tells the story of Grant Township as neighbors organize to defend their water, their health, and the threatened hellbender salamander that depends on their pristine streams. Led by two determined women, Judy and Stacy, the town takes on corporate interests and government inaction — and makes a bold, unexpected move: adopting a Community Bill of Rights that recognizes the rights of nature as a tool for protection.
Co-Directed by Justin Grubb and Annie Roth, this is a film about what happens when ordinary people refuse to stay silent. It’s a story of community power, and the way one fight can ripple outward: from a local watershed, to a legal movement, to the broader question of who gets to decide what happens to a place.
Rights of Nature, Rights of People
