That is the question addressed by the new documentary ‘Drilling Mora County’

This article by Tamra Testerman appeared in The Taos News, February 8th, 2018.

The genesis of David Luis Leal Cortez’ most recent film, “Drilling Mora County,” and his journey as a filmmaker began where he said he made his first super-8 short films at the University of Michigan in the early 1990s.

Eventually, he transferred to the College of Santa Fe’s moving image arts program to study with Gene Youngblood and graduated in 2001. “I worked on a few feature films,” he said, “but did not like the environment or the films I was participating in. I took a massive hiatus and started shooting and editing short reports, or covered a protest, about three years ago and uploading to my Vimeo page.”

His latest is titled “Drilling Mora County.” It will be screened today (Feb. 8) at 7 p.m., in the Arthur Bell Auditorium at the Harwood Museum of Art, 238 Ledoux Street. Admission is $15, $12 for museum members.

“Drilling Mora County” is a documentary that explores the Mora County fracking ban. It was the first county in the United States that attempted to ban fracking within its borders. In the film, Cortez interviews attorneys, activists and elected officials involved with the ordinance. His collection of interviews, recorded over a four-year period, include Attorney Jeffery Haas, elected official John Olivas, and activists Kathleen Dudley and Anita Laran. MORE…