"They naively idealize a past that never existed. They don't know what it actually is to live in the past," McElhinney said. "We talked to mothers in Madagascar that don't want their children to die before they're 5. We want the people of Madagascar to enjoy their relatives into their 90s. That's what big business has done."

Many of the filmmakers' critics cite their ties to big business—the mining company proposing the Rosia Montana mine, in particular—as reason to discount the film. Gabriel Resources funded much of the film, but McAleer and McElhinney—both self-proclaimed, proud "European liberals"—said they only agreed to do the film if the mining company was given no editorial input whatsoever. Much to their surprise, Gabriel Resources agreed, and didn't see the film until the day it was finished. McAleer said it's the first film he's worked on that wasn't altered by the funders.

When asked why he agreed to the deal, Gabriel Resources representative Alan Hill said, "The project itself stands up. It's a damn good project," adding that the company had met all of the environmental standards required by the EU.

"Mine Your Own Business," has opened in New York and Washington, D.C., both times to objections and protests from Greenpeace and other environmental groups.

"We're just saying things that environmentalists don't like. Journalists have always given environmentalists an easy time," McAleer said. "They've never been questioned. So, when they get questioned, they get very upset, and that's when you get words like Neo-Nazis and pornography," both of which they say have been used by opponents to describe them and their work.

Outside the National Geographic theater, a small group of environmentalists gathered to protest the film, carrying signs condemning it as "corporate PR." One protestor, wrapped in a warm synthetic wool coat braved the 40-degree weather to protest the construction of the mine in Rosia Montana. A representative of NoDirtyGold.org, she said the mine will only contribute to the economy for a mere 20 years. She suggested "sustainable development" for George and his family such as subsistence farming and the promise of tourism for this remote community.

She compared the poverty in Third World countries to that of her own hometown in Colorado and economically-disadvantaged parts of Washington, D.C., explaining that the people of Rosia Montana can get other jobs and that they have clothes and shoes to wear.

"All you people talk about is jobs, jobs, jobs. There's more to the world than mining," she said while debating moviegoers.

Thousands of miles away in much colder climes and more dire economic conditions than either Colorado or Washington, D.C., George's sister Ella had this to say, from the film:

"I think the people who are against the mine, the project, they are rich people. They have money. They don't need a job. They don't need a job to live. They are not here like us. They are living there and they have a job, they have a house, they have anything. I know is beautiful here, but we can't live with that. We have to eat. We have need jobs and we have to work. We can't just live looking at the beautiful places here. It's not—it's not living like that."

There are environmental concerns associated with any type of mining or big development, the dangers of which businesses have learned to mitigate as mining practices and environmental regulation has evolved. There are water supplies and birds and rare breeds of squirrels to protect. But there are also people to think of. "Mine Your Own Business" tells their story.

Environmentalists would do well to pay attention. McAleer and McElhinney have given them the opportunity to do so while sitting on their couches, watching their HD TVs in developed Westernized cities, far from the people they're trying to protect. Just the way they like it.