Crude (2009 film)

Last updated
Crude
Crude filmstill1.jpg
Film still
Directed by Joe Berlinger
Produced byJoe Berlinger
Michael Bonfiglio
J.R. DeLeon
Richard Stratton
CinematographyPocho Alvarez
Joe Berlinger
Michael Bonfiglio
Juan Diego Pérez
Edited byAlyse Ardell Spiegel
Music byWendy Blackstone
Distributed byEntendre Films
Radical Media
Red Envelope Entertainment
Third Eye Motion Picture
First Run Features
Release date
  • January 18, 2009 (2009-01-18)(Sundance)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Crude is a 2009 American documentary film directed and produced by Joe Berlinger. [1] It follows a two-year portion of an ongoing class action lawsuit against the Chevron Corporation in Ecuador.

Contents

Synopsis

The film follows the progress during 2006 and 2007 of a $27 billion legal case brought against the Chevron Corporation following the drilling of the Lago Agrio oil field, a case described by activists as an "Amazon Chernobyl". [2]

The plaintiffs of the class action lawsuit are 30,000 Ecuadorians living in the Amazonian rainforest who claim their ancestral homeland has been polluted by the oil industry. In addition to the legal struggle, Crude shows interviews from representatives of the plaintiffs and defendants of the class action lawsuit, and explores the influence of media support such as Vanity Fair, celebrity activism including support from musical artist Sting and his wife Trudie Styler, the power of multinational corporations, the shifting power in Ecuadorian politics, and rapidly disappearing indigenous cultures are explored in the movie.

The film ends with a prediction the lawsuit will not be resolved for another decade or so unless an out of court settlement is arranged.

Interviews

Subpoena of footage

On May 6, 2010 federal judge Lewis Kaplan sided with a petition submitted by Chevron and ruled that Berlinger turn over more than 600 hours of original footage created during the film's production. Kaplan held that Berlinger’s outtakes were not confidential and that Berlinger was not independent from Donziger (a lawyer of the Ecuadorians living in the Amazonian). Chevron had sought to subpoena the footage as part of the ongoing lawsuit discussed in the film. [3] Berlinger's legal team has maintained that the footage is protected by reporters' privilege, Berlinger said there's an expectation on the part of his subjects that the raw footage is not going to be released as it's a 24/7 webcam on their lives. [4]

Chevron insists it bears no responsibility for pollution in the Amazon and, after losing the case in Ecuador, hired hundreds of lawyers from 60 firms to fight the case in more than a dozen U.S. federal courts. [5] The lawyer representing Chevron called the film in this context "an unapologetic work of propaganda". [5] Berlinger noted that the movie has received international acclaim, that he maintained complete editorial control over the film at all times and argued that he had in fact gone to great lengths to make Crude a balanced portrayal. [6] Berlinger admitted that he was stunned at the level of environmental devastation he saw in Ecuador, [4] but pointed out that the film also included many arguments from Chevron’s perspective on the court case. [6] [4]

In the outtakes of the movie Donziger, a lawyer representing the Ecuadorians suing Chevron for environmental damages in the Amazonian rainforest, said Texaco (now Chevron) lawyers play dirty in Ecuador [5] and suggested ideas to also play dirty, like pressuring the court through protests of farmers. Chevron claimed the outtakes show enough misconduct by the plaintiffs to render any judgment against it illegitimate. [7] A lawyer for the plaintiffs also suggested airing meeting scenes could cost them the case. [8] A spokeswoman for the plaintiffs answered about the scene, these were however just ideas of Donziger and in some cases colleagues making jokes in brainstorming sessions. She pointed out a rally to pressure the court never took place and called the outtakes a sideshow to distract from Chevron’s contamination of the rain forest. [7] A scene showing the strategy session of Donziger had been cut from the DVD release, but was included the online version for Netflix. The US 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed the scope slightly (Berlinger had to turn over 500 hours of outtakes, rather than 600), but in 2011 upheld the lower court ruling against Berlinger. [8]

The judge Lewis Kaplan ruled in 2014 that the American lawyers for the plaintiffs had used fraud in obtaining the $19 billion Ecuadorian court judgment against Chevron and cited the film outtakes as a reason for his decision. [9] That judgment was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. [10] Kaplan also ruled that Donziger was guilty of fraud. [11] The decisions of the court for Chevron and against Donziger were highly controversial, [12] [13] it was later also revealed that the witness for the version of Chevron was paid several hundreds thousand dollars by Chevron. [11] In September 2020, the National Lawyers Guild and International Association of Democratic Lawyers filed a joint complaint against Kaplan, alleging that “statements and actions of Judge Kaplan over the last ten years show him to have taken on the role of counsel for Chevron”. [14] According to Amazon Watch, Kaplan had held investments in Chevron at the time of the trial. [15]

Berlinger had to spend an estimated amount of $1.3 million on legal fees on the case about the movie and expressed concerns about being able to make documentaries about legal cases in the future. [16]

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on 65 reviews, and an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Dynamic, tightly arranged, and deliberately provocative, Joe Berlinger's Crude is a sobering, enraging wake-up call." [17] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [18]

Crude was reviewed in The New York Times , [19] in LA Weekly , [20] on AlterNet , [21] and by Howard Zinn.[ citation needed ]

Release

Crude premiered on January 18, 2009 at the Sundance Film Festival and had its theatrical premiere on September 9, 2009, at the IFC Center in New York City. [22]

Film festivals (partial list)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nueva Loja</span> City in Sucumbíos, Ecuador

Nueva Loja, also known as Lago Agrio, is the capital of the province of Sucumbíos in Ecuador. It was founded in the 1960s as a base camp of Texaco. The official population as of the 2022 census is 55,627.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Berlinger</span> American documentary filmmaker

Joseph Berlinger is an American documentary filmmaker and producer. Particularly focused on true crime documentaries, Berlinger's films and docu-series draw attention to social justice issues in the US and abroad in such films as Brother's Keeper, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, Crude, Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger and Intent To Destroy: Death, Denial and Depiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loretta Preska</span> American judge (born 1949)

Loretta A. Preska is an American lawyer who serves as a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Born in Albany, Preska received law degrees from Fordham University School of Law and New York University School of Law. She practiced law in New York City from 1973 to 1992 at the law firms of Cahill Gordon & Reindel and Hertzog, Calamari & Gleason. President George H. W. Bush appointed her to the district bench in 1992. She served as chief judge of the court for a seven-year term from 2009 to 2016, and took senior status in 2017. President George W. Bush nominated Preska to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2008, but the Senate did not act on the nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pablo Fajardo</span> Ecuadorian lawyer and activist

Pablo Fajardo Mendoza is an Ecuadorian lawyer and activist. He led the litigation against Chevron Corporation related to the environmental disaster he alleged was caused by the oil operations of Texaco in the Lago Agrio oil field between 1964 and 1990. In this process, Fajardo represented the over 30,000 local inhabitants affected by the spill of crude oil and toxic waste. Chevron, which instead blames Petroecuador and has not paid the judgement, has had repeated success in arguing against it. The judgement has been validated by further Ecuadorian courts and the Supreme Court of Canada but it has been declared fraudulently obtained by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and an arbitration court in The Hague.

The Lago Agrio oil field is an oil-rich area near the city of Nueva Loja in the province of Sucumbíos, Ecuador. It is located in the Western Oriente Basin. The site's hydrocarbon-bearing formations are the Cretaceous Napo and Hollin formations. Oil was discovered in the area in 1960s. The Lago Agrio field is known internationally for the serious ecological problems that oil development has created there, including water pollution, soil contamination, deforestation and cultural upheaval. Located in Cofan territory near the Colombian border, it is one of twelve production areas that developed when Ecuador began to export petroleum.

Luis Yanza is an environmental activist from Ecuador, of Cofán descent. He serves as president of the Frente de Defensa de la Amazonia, an NGO representing the interests of the campesinos and indigenous peoples in Ecuador.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1890, the firm includes approximately 1,900 attorneys and 1,000 staff located in 21 offices around the world, including North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The firm is known for its litigation practice, and in particular its strength in appellate law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Creadon</span> American film director

Patrick Creadon is an American filmmaker and actor primarily known for his work in documentaries. His first film, Wordplay, profiled New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz and premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The film screened in over 500 theatres nationwide and became the second-highest grossing documentary of that year. His second film, I.O.U.S.A., is a non-partisan examination of America's national debt problem and forecast the 2007–2008 financial crisis. I.O.U.S.A. premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was later named one of the Top 5 Documentaries of the Year by film critic Roger Ebert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewis A. Kaplan</span> American judge (born 1944)

Lewis Avins Kaplan is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He was the presiding judge in a number of cases involving high-profile defendants, including E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump, Virginia Giuffre v. Prince Andrew,United States v. Bankman-Fried, and trials of Al Qaeda terrorists such as Ahmed Ghailani.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazon Watch</span> US-based nonprofit organization

Amazon Watch is a nonprofit organization founded in 1996, and based in Oakland, California, it works to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. It partners with indigenous and environmental organizations in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Brazil in campaigns for human rights, corporate accountability and the preservation of the Amazon's ecological systems.

The Amazon Defense Coalition is an Ecuadorian non-governmental organization created on May 16, 1994, and approved by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Social Welfare on June 4, 1998, under ministerial reference #535. It is led by the environmental and human rights activist Luis Yanza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael C. Donaldson</span> American entertainment attorney and independent film advocate

Michael C. Donaldson is an American entertainment attorney, independent film advocate and a recipient of the International Documentary Association's Amicus Award, an honor bestowed upon only two others, Steven Spielberg and John Hendricks, in the 25-year history of the awards. He is a proponent of the 165-year-old fair-use doctrine and, through its use, is known for saving documentarians hundreds of thousands of dollars while preserving their First Amendment rights.

The Cinema for Peace Foundation is a registered, non-profit organization based in Berlin, Germany. It supports film-based projects dealing with global humanitarian and environmental issues, and coordinates the Cinema for Peace awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Donziger</span> American lawyer, human rights activist (born 1961)

Steven Robert Donziger is an American attorney known for his legal battles with Chevron, particularly Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc. and other cases in which he represented over 30,000 farmers and indigenous people who suffered environmental damage and health problems caused by oil drilling in the Lago Agrio oil field of Ecuador. The Ecuadorian court awarded the plaintiffs $9.5 billion in damages, which led Chevron to withdraw its assets from Ecuador and launch legal action against Donziger in the US. In 2011, Chevron filed a RICO (anti-corruption) suit against Donziger in New York City. The case was heard by US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who determined that the ruling of the Ecuadorian court could not be enforced in the US because it was procured by fraud, bribery, and racketeering activities. As a result of this case, Donziger was disbarred from practicing law in New York in 2018.

<i>Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger</i> 2014 documentary film directed by Joe Berlinger

Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger is a 2014 American biographical documentary film produced and directed by Joe Berlinger. It is produced by CNN Films and Radical Media. Its world premiere was at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2014.

Seward & Kissel is an American law firm with offices in New York City and Washington, D.C. that was founded in 1890. Its primary expertise is in the financial services industry. The firm's clientele includes commercial banks, investment funds, institutional investors, and shipping and transport companies. As of September 2015, the firm had 160 lawyers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corruption in Ecuador</span>

Corruption in Ecuador is a serious problem. In 2014, the U.S. Department of State cited Ecuador's corruption as a key human-rights problem. According to Freedom House, "Ecuador has long been racked by corruption", and the weak judicial oversight and investigative resources perpetuate a culture of impunity.

Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc. was a class-action lawsuit against Texaco Petroleum. It was filed in 1993 by American human rights lawyer Steven Donziger on behalf of indigenous collectives in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The lawsuit sought compensation for "alleged environmental and personal injuries arising out of Texaco's oil exploration and extraction operations in the Oriente region between 1964 and 1992." Legal proceedings followed in courts in Ecuador and the United States for about a decade. The case was dismissed on May 30, 2001, on grounds of forum non conveniens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of Chevron</span> Overview of controversies involving Chevron Corporation

Chevron Corporation has been one of the most widely-criticized companies in the world, mostly stemming from its activities and involving climate change. Chevron's most widely-known scandal involves Texaco's activities in the Lago Agrio oil field, which Chevron is deemed responsible for due to its acquisition of Texaco in 2001. Chevron has been most widely criticized for its handling of litigation against it filed by residents of the Lago Agrio region, which included what activists see as the "jailing" of Lago Agrio lawyer Steven Donziger.

Kunstler v. Central Intelligence Agency is a lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency, former CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Undercover Global S.L., and David Morales Guillen filed by a group of American lawyers and journalists associated with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The lawsuit alleged that the CIA violated their constitutional rights by recording their conversations with Assange and copying their devices after suspicions were raised that Assange was working for the Russian intelligence services.

References

  1. Crude at IMDb
  2. McAvoy, Esme (10 January 2010). "Who will pay for Amazon's 'Chernobyl'?". The Independent . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  3. Itzkoff, Dave (6 May 2010). "Judge Rules that Filmmaker Must Give Footage to Chevron". The New York Times . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 Folkenflik, David (4 June 2010). "A 'Crude' awakening: Chevron Vs. The documentarian". All Things Considered. NPR . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 Condé Nast (2012-01-02). "Reversal of Fortune". newyorker.com. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  6. 1 2 Berlinger, Joe (27 May 2010). "Declaration of Joe Berlinger" (PDF). Crude Productions, LLC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Film outtakes steal stage in Chevron Ecuador case". reuters.com. 2011-01-11. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  8. 1 2 Isler, Tom (29 March 2014). "What 'Chevron Corp. v. Donziger' Continues To Get Wrong about Documentary Filmmaking". Documentaries and the Law Blog. University of Pennsylvania Law School . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  9. Krauss, Clifford (4 March 2014). "Big Victory for Chevron Over Claims in Ecuador". The New York Times . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  10. Hurtado, Patricia (8 August 2016). "Chevron Wins Ruling Blocking $8.6 Billion Order in Ecuador Fight". Bloomberg Markets . Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  11. 1 2 "How the Environmental Lawyer Who Won a Massive Judgment Against Chevron Lost Everything". theintercept.com. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  12. Erin Brockovich (2022-02-08). "This lawyer should be world-famous for his battle with Chevron – but he's in jail – Erin Brockovich". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  13. "After almost 1,000 days of arbitrary detention, Steven Donziger's release highlights urgent need for action against SLAPPs". amnesty.org. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  14. "More than 200 lawyers file judicial complaint against Judge Lewis A. Kaplan over abusive targeting of human rights advocate Steven Donziger". New York. September 1, 2020.
  15. "U.S. Judge Kaplan Held Investments In Chevron When He Ruled for Company in Ecuador Pollution Dispute". October 29, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  16. Dave Itzkoff (2012-01-06). "Filmmakers Take Dual Roles in Quest for Truth (Published 2012)". nytimes.com. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  17. "Crude (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  18. "Crude Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  19. Dargis, Manohla (22 January 2009). "In the Snows of Sundance, a Marked Chill in the Air". The New York Times . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  20. Foundas, Scott (22 January 2009). "Sundance Film Festival 2009: Crude Realities". LA Weekly . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  21. Shan, Han (26 August 2009). "'Crude': The Film Chevron Doesn't Want You to See". AlterNet . Independent Media Institute. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  22. "Crude". IFC Center. Archived from the original on 31 August 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2018.