While researching Crude (2009), the documentary about devastating oil and toxic waste contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon rain forest and the ensuing ongoing lawsuit in which some 30,000 indigenous residents of the region are seeking 27-million dollars in damages and reparation from Chevron, filmmaker Joe Berlinger shot some 600 hours of film, including extensive interviews with litigants on both sides of the case.
Berlinger's 105-minute final cut not only presents a fair and balanced view of the issues, it also respects the director's confidentiality agreements with both plaintiffs and defendants who appear as his on camera sources.
On April 9, 2010, Chevron's attorneys requested access to all of Berlinger's Crude footage, ostensibly to scour it for outtakes that might undermine the plaintiff's case. The renowned filmmaker and his production company, Third Eye Motion Picture Company, are going to court on April 30 to oppose Chevron's request.
"Our opposition has nothing to do with Chevron's position regarding issues raised in the lawsuit depicted in the film, but rather represents our concern about this as an unnecessary breach of our First Amendment rights -- not only as they pertain to Crude, but also with long term implications for investigative documentary filmmaking, which represents a singularly important form of in-depth reporting in the contemporary media forum," said Berlinger in a telephone interview.
"People who speak with documentary filmmakers, trust us to respect their confidentiality and represent them accurately. To do so, we go through an arduous editing process, culling appropriate material and putting aside the rest. While researching Crude, we filmed some people for months or years to gain their trust, but they never agreed to submit to 24/7 camera scrutiny, or be exposed in that way. We absolutely must respect their trust in us. We must protect our sources or investigative documentary filmmaking will suffer irreparable consequences. And this position has, as I said, has nothing to do with the fact that it's Chevron -- the defendant -- requesting the footage. This would be my position equally strongly if it were the plaintiffs who wanted access to everything we'd shot for the film."
This will not the first time Berlinger has been to court to stand up for First Amendment rights. In an earlier case revolving around his 1996 documentary Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, prosecutors in the "West Memphis Three" murder case demanded outtakes of filmed interviews with the defendants. Berlinger, represented by HBO's legal team, successfully quashed those subpoenas.
However, in opposing the subpoenas in Crude case, the independent filmmaker is financing his own civil rights fight.
Fortunately, Berlinger is currently directing two substantial for-hire projects. Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions called on him to direct eight episodes of Master Class, a new biography-like documentaries series for her soon-to-launch OWN cable network. Each episode features a super successful person, including Condolleeza Rice, Sidney Poitier, Simon Cowell, Dr. Maya Angelou and Jay Z, among others.
Berlinger says the Master Class episodes will have high production values, similar to those that can be seen in the Power of Dreams short documentaries he produced and directed for Honda.
Berlinger is also working on the fifth season of the Sundance Channel's Iconoclast series, featuring conversations between Charlize Theron and Jane Goodall, Lenny Kravitz and Lee Daniels, and Hugh Jackman and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, among other similarly stimulating personality parings.
Taking time away from those assignments, on April 30 at 10:15 am, Berlinger will appear at the United States District Court, Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl St. in New York, with the Honorable Lewis A. Kaplan presiding.
We don't know whether Oprah Winfrey, the Master Class and Iconoclast influencers, his documentary filmmaking colleagues and die hard fans will be keeping an eye on Berlinger's critical situation regarding Crude, but we surely will! And, you should, too.
(PHOTO: Filmmaker Joe Berlinger. Credit Ali Pflaum, Courtesy Joe Berlinger. ).
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