National premiere of “Promised Land”, directed by Gus Van Sant

Fracking, a fracture technique used to extract underground gas and/or petroleum, is the focus of the latest film by Gus Van Sant, Promised Land. The North American film maker has combined creative efforts with Matt Damon and John Krasinski, both of who play the principal roles in the film and are responsible for the screenplay which, to some degree, seeks to raise awareness about the technique among the spectators from an ecological point of view.

In the film, an executive from a large corporation arrives at a rural American town to acquire the drilling rights from the land owners, most of whom are ranchers. While attempting to convince the townsfolk, themselves gravely affected by the recent economic crisis, of the supposed benefits of the drilling, he will also have occasion to re-evaluate his life up to this point. What at first seemed like an easy task and a brief visit becomes more complicated when a well-respected college professor gathers the inhabitants together to explain to them the real implications of drilling on their lands.

Promised Land, which arrives at our cinemas on the 19th of April, is a further collaboration between the director and Matt Damon following the experimental film Gerry and the Academy Award winning Good Will Hunting. The screenplay itself is a work of collaboration between Damon and John Krasinski, best known for his role in the North American version of The Office, and the film also stars Frances McDormand, Rosemarie DeWitt and the veteran Hal Holbrook.