Independent Film Festival Boston 2009

Amid the lush, tropical beauty of the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest, an environmental catastrophe festers. Oil saturates the ground, and the river smells like gasoline. Teenagers are dying of cancer, babies are covered in rashes, and an indigenous culture hovers on the brink of extinction. Who or what is responsible?

In the fascinating and disturbing CRUDE, documentarian Joe Berlinger (PARADISE LOST, METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER, IFF Boston 2004) takes us behind the scenes of a long-standing class-action lawsuit brought against Chevron/Texaco by the indigenous people of Ecuador, who allege they are slowly being poisoned by the disastrous environmental conditions left in the company’s wake. Chevron denies any links between health and oil production and claims that its environmental policies meet governmental standards. But the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Pablo Fajardo—a working-class hero who studied law in order to redress the wrongs perpetrated in his community—could pose a threat to corporate mentality.

One of the subtle touches of this skillful documentary is how the camera captures lawyers on both sides refining their language to make their arguments more persuasive. But the most persuasive arguments are made by the otherwise voiceless, who have finally been given an opportunity to speak. This interplay between power and marginality underscores a broader message about the profound—and hidden—costs of oil in a part of the world not usually associated with its production.

- Kristina Aikens