Photo by: SweetCrudeMovie.com
Seattle filmmaker Sandy Cioffi went to Nigeria to film the building of a library in the poor community of Niger Delta, but what she found would change her life for years and compel her to create the documentary chronicling the crisis, “Sweet Crude.”
A film that exposes the humanitarian and oil crisis in Nigeria will be shown at The Rocky Mountain Womens Film Festival Saturday, Nov. 7. The film has won the hearts of many around the country in its endeavor to shed light on the developing events untold by mass media.
“Sweet Crude” is a part of the longest continuously running women’s film festival in the world and will be one of over 250 films showcased at the weekend long event. Rising early will be necessary to catch the documentary’s 10:35 a.m. show time at the Cornerstone Arts Center located on 825 N. Cascade Ave. at Colorado College Colorado Springs, Colo. Director Sandy Cioffi will attend.
The film tells the story of Niger Delta in 2008 when militants from the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) declared an oil war. It tells stories of the regions’ people who are plagued by environmental destruction due to the pumping of crude oil for sale on the international market. After 50 years of extreme poverty and non-violent protest, MEND began capturing oil workers in an effort to draw international attention to the brewing crisis.
Cioffi was shocked that a situation so explosive and immediately pertinent to a nation’s stability could be glazed over by the media’s portrayal and emphasis on the situation. She gathered a team and headed back to make a film that she hoped would shed light on and gain support for the hurting community.
“If we threw a high-beam spotlight on this moment and froze it for the world to see- what then? Could the people in a position to make a difference be moved to act?” Coiffi said.
The spread of information is extremely important to the members of the production team. All the members played multiple roles in order to make the documentary a reality. Leslye Wood, a writer and producer of the film also accumulated statistical research and flew to Nigeria twice during filming. She now focuses on public relations. She believes film is an important genre for the younger generation to consider, especially when it addresses pressing current issues like environmental and human rights.
“Students hold a lot of the hope for changing our world – I want them to get to know the people of the Niger Delta, to understand beyond the statistics the impact of oil,” said Wood.
The “Sweet Crude” Web site accepts donations and also sells T-shirts in an effort to alleviate trauma in the Niger Delta. Additionally, those involved desire to influence audiences’ perceptions of consumption.
“We’ve come to realize, like many people working on environmental and energy issues, that it’s time to re-examine everything, to change everything – our whole relationship to consumption. What we really need to be thinking about is how to transition to energy production that’s cleaner and saner. And particularly to clean up those places like the Niger Delta that have been decimated,” Wood said.
