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Event
Benefit screening event: SF Theatrical Premiere of "CRUDE: The Real Price of Oil"
The inside story of the infamous "Amazon Chernobyl" case, CRUDE: THE REAL PRICE OF OIL is a real-life, high-stakes legal drama set against a backdrop of global politics, human rights advocacy, multinational corporate power, rapidly-disappearing indigenous cultures, the media, and celebrity activism.
The landmark case takes place in the Amazon jungle of Ecuador, pitting 30,000 indigenous and colonial rainforest inhabitants against U.S. oil giant Chevron. The plaintiffs charge that Texaco (which merged with Chevron in 2001) spent three decades systematically contaminating one of the most biologically diverse regions on Earth, poisoning the water, air, and land.
This pollution created an environmental "death zone" the size of the Rhode Island, resulting in increased rates of cancer, leukemia, birth defects, and a multitude of other health problems. The inhabitants further allege that oil operations in the region contributed to the destruction of indigenous peoples who live there, and permanently harmed their traditional way of life.
Chevron vociferously disputes these claims, claiming that the case is a complete fabrication perpetrated by "environmental con men" seeking to line their pockets with some of the company's billions in annual profits.
Three years in the making, this cinema-verite documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Joe Berlinger ("Brothers Keeper", "Paradise Lost", "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster") is an epic, ground-level view of one of the largest and most controversial environmental lawsuits in history -- which has the potential of forever changing the way international business is conducted.
While the environmental impact of the consumption of fossil fuels has been increasingly documented in recent years, CRUDE focuses on the human cost of our addiction to oil and the increasingly difficult task of holding a major corporation accountable for its past deeds.
Shooting in dozens of locations on three continents and in multiple languages, Berlinger and his crew gained extraordinary access to players on all sides of the fight and beyond, capturing the drama that unfolded as the case grew from a little-known legal claim to an international cause celebre.
The case takes place not just in a courtroom, but in a series of field inspections at the alleged contamination sites, with the judge and attorneys for both sides trudging through the jungle to litigate. And the battleground has expanded far beyond the legal arena.
The case has drawn attention from an array of celebrities, politicians and journalists, and landed on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine. Some of the film's subjects sparked further controversy when they won a CNN "Hero" award and the Goldman Award, the environmental equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
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LocationLumiere Theater
1572 California Street (@ Polk)
San Francisco, CA 94109
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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