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Thursday, April 29, 2010 1:11:10 AM
Chevron demands "Crude" filmmaker hand over footage
Chevron Vs. Filmmaker
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/arts/27arts-CHEVRONVSFIL_BRF.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF
A documentary filmmaker says he will fight a request by Chevron to turn over hundreds of hours of footage he shot for a documentary about pollution in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador. Chevron says the material may be useful in lawsuits accusing it of damaging the environment there. The filmmaker, Joe Berlinger, whose documentaries include “Paradise Lost” and “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster,” said he had been served with a request from Chevron for more than 600 hours of unused footage for his 2009 documentary “Crude.” The movie, seen in a scene above, chronicles Ecuadoreans who sued Texaco, which is now owned by Chevron, saying the companies’ practices at the Lago Agrio oil field resulted in the contamination of their drinking and bathing water. Mr. Berlinger, who is scheduled to appear in United States District Court in Manhattan on Friday, said Chevron’s request violated his First Amendment rights. If Chevron obtained his footage, he said, “It would have a serious chilling effect on these kinds of investigative films.” Randy M. Mastro, a lawyer representing Chevron, said the company “simply seeks here outtakes relating to the access this filmmaker was given to film the plaintiffs and their lawyers, government officials and supposedly independent experts’ meetings with the plaintiffs and their lawyers.”
Chevron Vs. Filmmaker
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/arts/27arts-CHEVRONVSFIL_BRF.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF
A documentary filmmaker says he will fight a request by Chevron to turn over hundreds of hours of footage he shot for a documentary about pollution in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador. Chevron says the material may be useful in lawsuits accusing it of damaging the environment there. The filmmaker, Joe Berlinger, whose documentaries include “Paradise Lost” and “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster,” said he had been served with a request from Chevron for more than 600 hours of unused footage for his 2009 documentary “Crude.” The movie, seen in a scene above, chronicles Ecuadoreans who sued Texaco, which is now owned by Chevron, saying the companies’ practices at the Lago Agrio oil field resulted in the contamination of their drinking and bathing water. Mr. Berlinger, who is scheduled to appear in United States District Court in Manhattan on Friday, said Chevron’s request violated his First Amendment rights. If Chevron obtained his footage, he said, “It would have a serious chilling effect on these kinds of investigative films.” Randy M. Mastro, a lawyer representing Chevron, said the company “simply seeks here outtakes relating to the access this filmmaker was given to film the plaintiffs and their lawyers, government officials and supposedly independent experts’ meetings with the plaintiffs and their lawyers.”
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