7/21/09 – Chevron Ecuadorian Amazon Film Tries Not to Take Sides, but Fails

“Chevron/Ecuadorian Amazon Film Tries Not to Take Sides, but Fails –
‘Crude’ relies heavily on footage of anti-oil company plaintiffs and alleged victims, but does give behind scenes glimpse of eco-litigator.”
By Jeff Poor – Business & Media Institute, July 21, 2009
“A shakedown is still a shakedown – even when every side of a ‘complicated’ story is shown…But ‘Crude,’ Joe Berlinger’s documentary about the Amazon Defense Front’s $27-billion lawsuit against Chevron for allegedly not cleaning up abandoned Ecuadorian oil wells, doesn’t quite see it as a shakedown…Berlinger did viewers of the film a disservice by not examining the poor track record of PetroEcuador, the state-owned oil company. PetroEcuador has a horrendous environmental record with more than 1,000 oil spills since 2000. In 2006, BusinessWeek said the company had ‘suffered an oil spill every two days this year.’ That in itself is something Berlinger should have noted in his reporting. But Berlinger had another agenda.”
Read more »