Chevron in Ecuador

The archive of the Clean Up Ecuador campaign website


Groundbreaking Film CRUDE Nominated for "Best Documentary" at the 24th Imagen Awards

Amazon Watch

Amazon Watch
20 August 2009 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Karen Hinton at +1.703.798.3109


WHEN:    August 21 -22, 2009
WHAT:    Interview and Photo Opportunity with Pablo Fajardo, the lead attorney for Ecuadorian plaintiffs in landmark legal case against Chevron.
       

Los Angeles, CA – Amazon Watch has launched a special campaign to promote CRUDE, Joe Berlinger’s award-winning documentary film that chronicles the epic battle to hold oil giant Chevron (formerly Texaco) accountable for it’s systematic contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon – an environmental tragedy experts call "the Rainforest Chernobyl."  This week, Pablo Fajardo, the lead attorney for the Ecuadorian plaintiffs and one of the main characters featured in CRUDE, is traveling to Los Angeles to attend the 24th Annual Imagen Awards Ceremony where CRUDE is nominated for “Best Documentary.”

The lawsuit charges Texaco – which merged with Chevron in 2001 – with deliberately dumping more than 18 billion gallons of toxic waste water into Amazon waterways and abandoning more than 900 unlined waste pits filled with oil sludge. Chevron now faces a potential $27 billion damages verdict.

Fajardo has received international accolades for his role in this historic case.  In  2008, he was awarded the 2008 CNN Heroes Award as well as the Goldman Environmental Prize along with activist Luis Yanza.

CRUDE opens in theaters nationwide this September. The film opens on 09/9/09 at the IFC Center in New York City and on 9/18/09 at the Nuart Landmark in West Los Angeles.  Amazon Watch is bringing together prominent environmental and human rights organizations, eco-luminaries, and celebrities including Trudie Styler, Daryl Hannah, and Martin Sheen among others, to promote the film and to join the campaign to address the urgent human rights and ecological crisis in Ecuador. Amazon Watch will host a “Black Carpet” benefit screening and premiere party for CRUDE in LA on 9/17/09.  See www.chevrontoxico.com/crude for more information.

Joe Berlinger’s CRUDE, widely praised for its balance in showing all sides of the case, has won numerous awards, including Best International Documentary at the One World Media Awards. Stephen Holden of the New York Times calls it: “A sprawling legal thriller with rare depth and power.”  See www.crudethemovie.com for more information.

Imagen Awards recognize the achievements of Latinos and the positive portrayal of Latinos in all forms of media. The 24th Imagen Awards Ceremony is being held on Friday August 21 at the Beverly Hills Hilton.  For information see www.imagen.org.

Founded in 1996, Amazon Watch is a non-profit environmental and human rights organization working to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin.