The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster (aka the BP Oil Spill), is officially registered as one of the worst oil spill disasters in an unfortunately rather lengthy history of similar devastating occurrences all over the world; The people who live in the Niger delta, for example, are just one ongoing example of a population that has had to live with resulting environmental catastrophes for decades. Their story has been documented on film more than a few times – films that were highlighted on this blog.
An all-too familiar David vs Goliath story, the film follows the battle between the multinational oil and gas company, BP, and a 300-person Louisiana Gulf community dependent on oyster fishing, in a region where the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill happened, where more than 200 million gallons of crude oil was pumped into the Gulf of Mexico for a total of 87 days, making it the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. Many thousand total miles of coastline were affected, including the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, and even though the well was capped in July 2010, oil is still washing up on shores, which might cause long-term damage to people living in the area.
The initial oil rig explosion killed 11 people and injured 17 others, and over 8,000 animals (birds, turtles, mammals) were reported dead just 6 months after the spill, including many that are already on the endangered species list.
African American Film Festival Releasing Movement (AFFRM), who, today announced the acquisition of the film’s worldwide rights – its first documentary pick-up.
catastrophes in US history by highlighting the economic and cultural losses with a strikingly
personal approach. We’re pleased to work with this exciting new documentarian in connecting
Vanishing Pearls with its audience,” explained ARRAY’s Managing Director Tilane Jones.
Lezcano on behalf of AFFRM.
Over 30,000 people responded to the spill, working to clean up the coast, take care of animals and perform various other duties.
As of 2012, the Gulf was still polluted with oil.
Watch a trailer for the film below (poster underneath):
