Joe Berlinger discusses the three years he spent documenting the international legal battle and the human faces that have emerged from a major environmental disaster of oil contamination in the rainforest.
Interview by Aubrey Ann Parker
Circle of Blue
Thirty-thousand rainforest dwellers have taken on one of the largest companies in the world, Chevron, for allegedly having polluted nearly 2000 square miles of the Ecuadorian Amazon. The locals say 50 years of drilling have caused high rates of cancer in their communities; Chevron insists that the inflated illness rates are due to poor sanitation. Chevron inherited the David and Goliath lawsuit–it’s worth $27 billion–when it bought Texaco in 2001. Circle of Blue reporter, Aubrey Parker, spoke with Joe Berlinger about his latest film, Crude. Three years in the making, Crude documents the rising international support for this environmental issue as the lead attorney, a man from the affected area in the Amazon, speaks at Live Earth, graces the cover of Vanity Fair and wins a Hero Award from CNN.
Read complete article — originally published on May 12, 2010 — at Circle of Blue.
Tags: circle of blue, ecuador, health, oil, pollution, south america