Activist Tim DeChristopher, center (First Run Features)

Listening to the passionate and eloquent message of Tim DeChristopher, I was reminded of the famous Unitarian minister William Ellery Channing. A transcendentalist, Channing preached about man’s innate goodness and his ability to make the world a better place. Environmental activist Tim DeChristopher epitomes that goal.

The 27-year-old economics student disrupted the 2008 Bureau of Land Management Oil and Gas Lease Auction by bidding $1.8 million to save more than 22,000 acres of land around the Arches and Canyonlands national parks. He had no intention to pay for or drill on the land; he threw a monkey wrench and he was willing to suffer the consequences.

In February 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar invalidated the entire auction. However, that did not stop the prosecution of DeChristopher. The specter of oil and big business is forever in the shadows of all the proceedings. Unwilling to accept plea bargains, DeChristopher expressed his belief in the jury system of the American legal system—believing that when the jurors heard the evidence they would agree with him. Yet in his heart he knew he would be convicted.

The trial began on 28 February 2011. Judge Dee Benson denied all motions that would have aided DeChristopher’s defense. The jury deliberated for five hours and found him guilty on all accounts and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. He was led away from the courthouse in shackles.

This film is more than a straightforward accounting of a trial. It chronicles his intellectual maturation as a leader in the environmental justice movement. Obviously well-read in the teachings of non-violence and environmental writers, DeChristopher’s missives are moving and inspirational. He helped found the group Peaceful Uprising, which protests on his behalf at the trial and after the sentencing. Using art, music and street theater, the group reaches out to create a fervent interest in his case. In touch with the times, they even used Craigslist to find a candidate to run for elective office in Utah.

The film contains short interviews with Robert Redford and conservationist Terry Tempest Williams, both speaking out on Tim’s behalf; Nobel Prize-winning scientist Dr. Terry Root; environmentalist Bill McKibben; scientist Dr. James Hansen; and anti-Vietnam War activist Dave Harris (who spoke truthfully to Tim about what life would be like in prison). Hip, trendy music is used appropriately, and there are stunning scenes of the red rock country of southern Utah that was up for auction.

The film is brilliantly edited to create an in-depth portrait, but with that said, DeChristopher’s words are the highlight, especially his speech outside the courthouse on sentencing day. You can feel the tension within him as his words, in preacher-like-cadence, flow from his heart. He urges us to never back down—and to tackle the environmental crisis right now. Actions and words are required.

Tim was released from prison on April 21, 2013, after serving 21 months.