Chevron has spent millions on lawyers in order to delay and deny justice to the 30,000 Ecuadorean people impacted by the oil giant’s massive oil contamination in the Amazon. Now Chevron is sending their legal hounds after a new target.
Chevron’s most recent legal attack? The First Amendment and acclaimed director of award-winning documentary film Crude, Joe Berlinger.
In a ditch effort to delay the Ecuador court case further Chevron, hoping to scour Berlinger’s footage for material useful to their legal maneuvers and public relations strategies, is dragging Joe Berlinger into court to demand he hand over all of the 600+ hours of footage shot for the making of Crude.
The director has vowed to resist this attack on his rights, and freedom of the press, in a New York court this Friday.
Add your voice, calling for Chevron Lawyers to Stop attacking the First Amendment.
In today’s Guardian Berlinger said:
“This is a violation of the first amendment and journalistic privilege,” “Just because they want to look at my footage doesn’t mean they have the right to look at my footage.”
Berlinger also commented that he has been receiving support from 100’s of documentary filmmakers and journalists who fear the “chilling” impact on documentaries if sources’ protection could not be guaranteed.
Crude unflinchingly depicts the human suffering and environmental devastation caused by Chevron’s actions in Ecuador.
Over 325 of you hosted Crude screenings last month. Again and again, you told us that the movie inspired your community to take action to hold the oil giant accountable.
Joe Berlinger made a movie that Chevron didn’t want the world to see. And now Chevron is determined to punish him for it. Don’t let Chevron shred the First Amendment in order to evade justice in Ecuador.
Tell Chevron’s lawyers to stop harassing people who speak truthfully about its oil disaster in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest.