If you missed last December’s premiere of Saving the Great Swamp, Battle to Defeat the Jetport at the Mayo Performing Arts Center, you’re in luck.
The documentary has its local broadcast premiere on Nov. 15, 2017, at 8 pm on NJTV.
Narrated by Blythe Danner, the film tells the story of the first time someone tried to “drain the swamp.”
It was New Jersey’s Great Swamp, and the powerful Port Authority wanted to do the draining–to create a massive jetport that would have altered Greater Morristown forever.
The fight from 1959-68 was led by grass roots activists such as Helen Fenske, the mother of Morristown attorney Karl Fenske. Some people credit these kitchen table warriors with starting the environmental movement.
Directed by Scott Morris and co-produced by local historian Larry Fast, Saving the Great Swamp received backing from the Community Foundation of New Jersey, and from local philanthropists Dillard and Adrienne Kirby.
It won the Best Documentary prize at this year’s New Jersey Film Festival, and also earned a special jury award from the Worldfest-Houston International Film Festival. Blu-ray and DVD versions are scheduled for release later this month.
