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It doesn’t get more raw than “Crude”, the controversial and aptly named documentary by Joe Berlinger, about the fifteen year class action suite brought by indigenous Ecuadorians against Texaco for their alleged decade-long environmental negligence.

Presented as overlapping tableaus of Ecuadorian rural jungle life and the three-ring circus that comprises the legal proceedings, the film centers on a series of inspections of the more than 1,000 open, unlined pits of unknown contents (oil and toxic waste). Pablo Fajardo, a local organizer with an axe to grind, and the villagers he represents claim these pits are draining into nearby water sources, causing cancer, birth defects and damage to the environment. Texaco representatives offer their explanation: we just can’t say definitely what is causing the damage and even if it is hydrocarbon poisoning, it could very well be PetroEcuador, Ecuador’s nationalized petroleum service, who is responsible. The jury is still out, but in the meantime, audiences find themselves participants in a frustrating and sometimes shocking (if not familiar) story of global transnationalism run amuck.

Berlinger was on hand for the question/answer session at the E Street premiere as well as several key personalities from the film, including Luis Yanza, an Ecuadorian activist, and Steven Donziger, the American trial lawyer who is directing the lawsuit. After an inspiring introduction by Yanza, discussion ranged from the uses of the settlement to potential topics for another movie, such as the affects of mining on nearby regions.

To address an apparent lack of medical or scientific evidence in the film, Donziger pointed out, “Look, the film isn’t about cancer. I mean, it is, just as the court case is, but we’ve never set out to prove the cause of cancer – that’s just too difficult. This is an environmental case.”

Donziger’s point flies in the face of logic as the connection between declining health and the presence of oil is one made over and over again. But I caught up with him outside the theatre and had him clarify; an increase of cancer over the entire region is more than enough to imply the cause. And he has “ample” data to back that up.

Look for “Crude” to be at E-Street for a limited time – the more people that see it, the longer it stays. For more information, visit the official movie site or read up on the Campaign for Justice in Ecuador.