Crude (2009)

Director:

Joe Berlinger

Release Date:

15 January 2010 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

The story of lawsuit by tens of thousands of Ecuadorans against Chevron over contamination of the Ecuadorean Amazon.

Plot Keywords:

Environmental Disaster | Oil | One Word Title

Awards:

12 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Dan Ashley	...	Himself - ABC 7 News (archive footage)
Pablo Fajardo	...	Himself
Kent Robertson	...	Himself - Chevron
German Yanez	...	Himself (as Judge German Yanez)
Adolfo Callejas	...	Himself (as Dr. Adolfo Callejas)
Ebergeldo Criollo	...	Himself
Steve Donziger	...	Himself - Attorney
Atossa Soltani	...	Herself
Joseph Kohn	...	Himself - Attorney
Maria Garafalo	...	Herself - San Carlos Resident
Sara McMillen	...	Herself - Chevron
Ricardo Reis Veiga	...	Himself - Chevron
Diego Larrea	...	Himself - Attorney
Alejandro Ponce	...	Himself - Attorney
Rosa Moreno	...	Herself - San Carlos Resident
Amy Goodman	...	Herself - Democracy Now
Rafael Correa	...	Himself - President of Ecuador
Hugo Chávez	...	Himself
Lupita De Heredia	...	Herself - Amazon Defense Fund
Trudie Styler	...	Herself

Directed by
Joe Berlinger

Produced by
Pocho Alvarez	....	associate producer
Joe Berlinger	....	producer
Michael Bonfiglio	....	producer
Lisa Copland	....	executive producer
Meighan Cotter	....	post production producer
Rachel Dawson	....	co-producer
J.R. DeLeon	....	producer
Robert Friedman	....	executive producer
Liz Friesell	....	executive producer: post production
Jon Kamen	....	executive producer
Daniel Luciano	....	co-producer
Leslie Luciano	....	co-producer
Edward L. O'Connor	....	associate producer
Danielle Pelland	....	co-producer
Renee Purse	....	associate producer
Juan Diego Pérez	....	associate producer
Ted Sarandos	....	executive producer
Frank Scherma	....	executive producer
Richard Stratton	....	producer
Margaret Webber	....	associate producer: post-production
Justin Wilkes	....	executive producer
Stuart Zweibel	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Wendy Blackstone

Cinematography by
Pocho Alvarez
Joe Berlinger
Michael Bonfiglio
Juan Diego Pérez

Film Editing by
Alyse Ardell Spiegel

Production Management
Antony Adel	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Bonfiglio	....	second unit director

Art Department
Kevin Deckert	....	production artist

Sound Department
Brad Bergbom	....	additional sound
Travis Call	....	audio post coordinator
Rafael Cruz	....	additional sound
Michael Emery	....	additional sound
Dan Flosdorf	....	additional sound mixing
Matt Israel	....	additional sound
Steve Kashuk	....	additional sound
Claudia Katayanagi	....	additional sound
Cory Melious	....	sound re-recording mixer
Lauretta Molitor	....	additional sound
Javier Muller	....	additional sound
Edward L. O'Connor	....	sound recordist
Andre Palai	....	additional sound
Alfredo Salazar	....	additional sound
Scott Szabo	....	additional sound
Leon Felipe Troya	....	sound recordist

Visual Effects by
Jesse Morrow	....	digital artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Bozymowski	....	assistant camera
Carl Burke	....	assistant camera
Gabriela Centeno	....	assistant camera
Jack Glenn	....	assistant camera
Trish Govoni	....	assistant camera
Patricio Lopez	....	assistant camera
Luke McCoubrey	....	assistant camera
Jamie Metzger	....	camera operator
Rob Muraskin	....	additional camera
Edward L. O'Connor	....	assistant camera
Robert Richman	....	camera operator (as Bob Richman)
Colin Scibetta	....	assistant camera
Sigmund Thies	....	assistant camera
Claudia Woloshin	....	camera operator

Animation Department
Mark Fiore	....	animation

Editorial Department
Sergio Bastani	....	assistant editor
Lesley Crawford	....	assistant editor
Emergildo Criollo	....	assistant editor
Sante Ferrante	....	assistant editor
R.W. Fischer	....	assistant editor
Jon Fordham	....	colorist
Michael Furth	....	post-production consultant
Andy Kachor	....	assistant editor
Marcos Meconi	....	first assistant editor
Colin Devin Moore	....	assistant editor
Chris Pecoraro	....	assistant editor
Brian Quist	....	assistant editor
Jared Zagha	....	assistant editor
Timothy Ziegler	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Lisa Merlo	....	music clearance

Other crew
Joan S. Aceste	....	general counsel
Antony Adel	....	production coordinator
Dylan Armajani	....	engineer
Bub Borman	....	archive source
Len Carter	....	transcription supervisor
Karina Corti	....	production coordinator
Emergildo Criollo	....	translations
Ann Falsarella	....	lead transcriber
Sante Ferrante	....	translations
Stephanie Friede	....	intern
Marc Frydman	....	technical support
Bridget Hickey	....	insurance
Richard Hofstetter	....	legal services
Jennifer Jourdan	....	production assistant
Jeff Keiler	....	equipment manager
David Luccino	....	production assistant
Randy Main	....	chief engineer
Alexandra Palmieri	....	intern
Ali Pflaum	....	production coordinator
Matt Rowicki	....	technical support
Evan Schechtman	....	technical support
Thomas D. Selz	....	legal services (as Thomas Selz)
Maura Wogan	....	legal services (as Maura J. Wogan)
Don Wylie	....	conversion
Alexandra Zaleski	....	intern

Thanks
Marina Aguinda	....	special thanks
Christiane Amanpour	....	special thanks
Sidney Beaumont	....	special thanks
Shira Becker	....	special thanks
Phillip Belleza	....	special thanks
Maya Berlinger	....	very special thanks
Sarah Amalia Berlinger	....	very special thanks
Yolanda Blum	....	special thanks
Tracy Bufferd	....	special thanks
Stewart Copeland	....	very special thanks
Audrey Costadina	....	special thanks
Emergeldo Criollo	....	very special thanks
Ann Curry	....	special thanks
Lupita De Heredia	....	special thanks
Jennifer DeLury-Ciplet	....	special thanks
Lou Demattas	....	special thanks
Cameron Diaz	....	special thanks
Steve Donziger	....	very special thanks
Loren Eiferman	....	very special thanks
Helen Fairclough	....	special thanks
Pablo Fajardo	....	very special thanks
Michael Fiore	....	special thanks
Kate Forlenza	....	special thanks
Rich Frankel	....	special thanks
Inti Galarza	....	special thanks
Maria Eugenia Garces	....	special thanks
Maria Garolfalo	....	very special thanks
Chris Gidez	....	very special thanks
Micah Green	....	special thanks
Guillermo Grefa	....	special thanks
Pablo Guayasamin	....	special thanks
Nina Guralnick	....	special thanks
David Guzy	....	special thanks
Daryl Hannah	....	special thanks
Benedict Hieger	....	special thanks
Janine Iamunno	....	special thanks
Wayne Isaak	....	special thanks
Rob Kenneally	....	special thanks
Kevin Koenig	....	very special thanks
Joseph Kohn	....	special thanks
Theresa Lowrey	....	special thanks
Jesse Lutz	....	special thanks
Heather Lyles	....	special thanks
Ann Maest	....	special thanks
Leticia Maldonado	....	special thanks
Laura Michalchyshyn	....	very special thanks
Hector Danilo Miño-Naranjo	....	special thanks
Donald Moncayo	....	special thanks
Jonah Moran	....	very special thanks
Liz Moran	....	very special thanks
Bahman Naraghi	....	special thanks
Manuel Pallares	....	special thanks
Humberto Piyaguaje	....	special thanks
Alejandro Ponce	....	special thanks
Julio Prieto	....	special thanks
Kent Robertson	....	very special thanks
Shawn Sachs	....	special thanks
Juan Pablo Saentz	....	special thanks
Leila Salazar	....	special thanks
Dave Sandford	....	special thanks
Kathryn Schenker	....	special thanks
Cathy Shannon	....	special thanks
Gregory Sills	....	special thanks
Bruce Sinofsky	....	very special thanks
Jimmy Smits	....	special thanks
Atossa Soltani	....	very special thanks
Scott Spanjich	....	special thanks
James Spindler	....	special thanks
Sting	....	very special thanks
Trudie Styler	....	very special thanks
Andy Summers	....	very special thanks
Ken Sunshine	....	special thanks
Travis Swords	....	special thanks
Kayana Szymzcak	....	special thanks
Simeon Tegel	....	special thanks
Nicole Vandenberg	....	special thanks
Eddie Vedder	....	special thanks
Ricardo Reis Veiga	....	very special thanks
Michael Wasilewski	....	special thanks
Silvia Yanez	....	very special thanks
Luis Yanza	....	very special thanks
Maria Eugenia Yepez	....	special thanks
Meghan Young-Wiese	....	special thanks
Thom Zadra	....	special thanks
Brandon Zagha	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Entendre Films
• Radical Media
• Red Envelope Entertainment
• Third Eye Motion Picture Company

Distributors

• First Run Features (2009) (USA) (theatrical)
• Dogwoof Pictures (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Sony Music Entertainment (2010) (Japan) (TV)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:105 min | Germany:105 min (European Film Market)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Amazon Rainforest, Ecuador

Company:

Entendre Films

Trivia:

Footage not included in the documentary was later used as evidence of fraud on behalf of the plaintiffs in US courts.

Quotes:

Protester at 2008 Chevron Shareholders meeting:[Protester at 2008 Chevron Shareholders meeting] In Ecuador as in Nigeria, as in Richmond, as in Iraq, as in Burma, this company chose profit over people. It's clear that this company has no moral responsibility, no ethics. And that's why we're all here.

Movie Connections:

References Cobra Verde (1987)

Texaco/Chevron's contributions

Crude is a courtroom drama that never actually sees the inside of a courtroom. After years of stalling, Chevron's lawyers managed to move a class action case accusing them of large scale pollution of a native Amazonian community from the United States to Ecuador, and it's as the proceedings are finally getting underway there that director Joe Berlinger and his crew pick up the action. I don't really enjoy life nor do I really want to knowing the amount of injustice and suffering that is going on.

The thing we are starting to see is what comes around goes around, because all the outsourcing of jobs and exploitation of workers in other countries is ruing the economies all over. But people wont stop having kids, no matter how impoverished they are or how their children suffer, they seem to think procreating is a function like sh!tting that cant be helped. I hear so many parents of 3 b!tching about how bad life sucks and how unfair it is. and Im like WHAaaa? I have a friend whos a single mother and shes my only friend shes a really great and strong person she doesn't even let herself feel down, but what really upsets me are the people who are depressed or struggling or who hate life, having children. Thats one thing about the human race that never ceases to amaze me besides the greed. People who hate life, or who don't have enough, or who don't care about their children, having them. The people who run sweatshops lie to the hiring companies about the conditions but they claim when caught they just cant afford to pay the workers or care about the environment, but that's not true, they simply want to skim so much from the top that the people below suffer. The Indians have suffered the effects of pollution, but not pollution generated by Chevron, or possibly even by oil production. People are so damn selfish.

And who is behind the plaintiffs? A little-known group concocted by an alliance of anti-capitalists and trial lawyers who are probably not working pro bono.