Gaslit
Katie Camosy’s 2026 documentary debut, which premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, follows acclaimed actor and activist Jane Fonda on a journey through Texas oil fields and Gulf Coast communities, exploring the devastating consequences of fossil fuel extraction.
The origins of the project are closely tied to Camosy’s own professional experience. In 2016, she joined Greenpeace USA as a video producer, which eventually led to her meeting Jane Fonda. Years later, while producing short films about oil and gas extraction, Camosy realised that the story was too complex to be contained in short-form media. Thus, Gaslit became Greenpeace’s first feature-length film.
Camosy and Fonda’s genuine curiosity and commitment to the issue of fossil fuel extraction, as well as to the local and global damage it causes, create a sense of trust between them and the people they encounter throughout the film. This is what many contemporary documentaries lack: we witness real dialogue rather than a series of “talking heads”, often framed by a director who remains absent from the narrative.
One sequence illustrates this particularly well. While travelling through Texas and the Gulf Coast, Jane meets several people living near polluting industrial facilities. The most haunting scene occurs when she drives around St. James, Louisiana, with Sharon Lavigne, a local activist and founder of RISE St. James, a faith-based organisation fighting for environmental justice. Sharon explains that many residents had no idea that anything was wrong until members of the community began developing cancer and other serious illnesses, eventually dying as a result. As they drive through the neighbourhood, we witness a harrowing sequence in which Sharon matter-of-factly points to house after house, recounting the deaths of people who once lived there. Dozens of deaths. The film demonstrates how life’s most essential gift can be quietly taken away.
There are some imperfections in Gaslit: the editing often feels rough, the cinematography lacks individuality, and the soundtrack at times draws attention away from the conversations themselves. Nevertheless, technical perfection was clearly not the director’s priority. Gaslit functions first and foremost as a call to action — a desperate plea addressed not only to governments but also to ordinary viewers. It exposes an environmental disaster that many remain unaware of because it largely exists outside public focus. For instance, billowing plumes of methane gas captured through thermal imaging are entirely invisible to the naked eye. Many people may have no idea what toxins they are breathing every day.
Gaslit is certainly not an arthouse festival film that plays with form or prioritises visuals. Yet it reminds us of the expansive potential of cinema and showcases film’s unique capacity to communicate urgent information. Hopefully, it will reach not only audiences already engaged in environmental activism, but also viewers around the world who might be unaware of how global the issue is.