Film on valley filled with tension, offers hope

Film features valley residents venting their frustrations over natural resource issues.

A cross section of Flathead Valley residents, separated by ideology but united in their desire to improve community dialogue, filled Kalispell's Liberty Theatre for the first public screening of "The Fire Next Time" Wednesday evening.

The documentary, produced for television's Public Broadcasting Service by Patrice O'Neill of The Working Group, featured valley residents venting their frustrations, anger and fear over natural resource issues and rapid change.

The final product was created from interviews with about 100 people and more than 200 hours of footage shot over a two-year period.

"You might think this is a scary movie," said O'Neill, whose production company had also produced the 1995 film, "Not In Our Town," on how Billings responded to a rash of hate crimes.

"It's a tough film to watch; it's very personal and very tense," she said before the screening.

Footage of sunsets on Flathead Lake and horses running through green fields is interspersed with coverage of a hostile group burning a large swastika in protest of "Green Nazis" and a mother teaching her teenage daughter how to shoot a gun in self-defense.

The film chronicles two years of contentious situations in the Flathead Valley, beginning with the arrest of Project 7 leader David Burgert in February 2002 after Burgert's group allegedly plotted to kill local government leaders.

However, the focus on Project 7 ended up as only a small portion of the documentary. The filmmakers were drawn more to KGEZ radio owner and "The Edge" talk-show host John Stokes, as well as prominent multiple-use advocates and environmental activists.

O'Neill said her initial interest in the Flathead Valley was piqued by the Project 7 revelations. But what she thought was going to be a straightforward story about militia activity turned into something much broader when, as she said in the film, "another voice was heard."

Stokes was that voice, and he minces no words as the cameras roll, telling filmmakers that environmentalists' days are numbered and accusing them repeatedly of "destroying America."

Stokes makes other comments of a similar provocative nature. When Flathead County Commissioner Gary Hall is targeted for recall in a Stokes-instigated legal maneuver, Stokes says: "You can't assassinate people in this country; you have to do it with an ink pen."

Stokes is also shown leading emotionally charged supporters out of a forest-management meeting called in preparation for fire season. The group leaves early, furious that Forest Service spokespeople were given the floor before public comment was allowed.

"This is being manipulated and controlled by the New World Order and the one-world government," an unidentified man says outside the meeting.

Stokes' detractors in the film include a number of local teachers, environmental leaders Keith Hammer and Cesar Hernandez, community leaders such as Hall and Kalispell Mayor Pam Kennedy, as well as concerned citizens such as Bigfork's Mike Raiman.

Many say they felt intimidated by Stokes and his listeners. Hammer displays anger-filled e-mails he received; Kennedy says she had to change three flat tires, all caused by nails, in one month.

None are as fearful, though, as former Kalispell resident Brenda Kitterman, who is featured prominently in the film.

Kitterman was a driving force behind the "Hands Against Hate" campaign, a movement to bring valley residents together to discuss ways to bridge ideological divides and generate community harmony. She says she felt it was important to speak up against militia activity and that Stokes' antagonistic tactics were toxic and divisive.

For her efforts, she says in the film, a man called her and threatened, calmly and "with total hatred," to cut off her legs and cut out her genitalia. She felt she was being stalked. She found a pile of cigarette butts in her yard, yet no one in her family smokes.

The film ends with moments of hope for reconciliation. Teenagers gather at Kalispell Junior High in support of Trisha Kitterman, Brenda Kitterman's daughter. And then a number of those featured in the documentary, still maintaining opposing positions on complex issues, pose for a group photograph in the final frame.

"Would you stand with people you disagree with in your town?" O'Neill asks at the end.

Audience members took a shot at answering that question during a post-screening discussion.

County commissioner candidate Joe Brenneman said that as he was growing up in the valley on a dairy farm, cooperation was the only way to survive.

"When other farmers had problems, we got together and worked it out," he said. "The reality is that there is a lot of common ground here, and we need to do whatever we can to save this fantastic place."

Hammer said progress will only be possible if personal attacks and labels become a thing of the past.

"We fall so easily into the trap of calling people left and right," he said. "We need to take that line and turn it into a circle."

Many in the audience took offense at the tone of the documentary. Clarence Taber, past president of Montanans for Multiple Use, told the filmmakers he was "surprised to see the credibility you gave [Montana Human Rights Network head] Ken Toole, and surprised at the time you gave to Keith Hammer. And you don't even talk about the 'letting the forests burn' [issue]."

One woman defended Stokes, saying he had been the victim of threats and his radio station vandalized.

"I'm surprised at the bad way John Stokes is portrayed," she said. "He's just trying to give the truth and some people can't handle the truth."

What spoke most to some audience members, though, was not so much the subject matter but the passions on both sides.

"With this film I gained respect for people whose letters I read," Karin Hilding said. "Seeing them in person, with their families, what they have invested in their point of view - it gave me respect for them. Portraying anyone as evil is wrong."

Reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4431 or by e-mail at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com