Cinema as a forum for political debate

Presented amongst the Special Screenings, the documentary, The Big Fix, revisits one of the biggest ecological scandals of the last year. The two directors investigate the oil spill which occurred in the USA last year, polluting the Atlantic Ocean in an irreversible manner.

On the 22nd April 2010, the oil rig Deepwater Horizon run by BP sank into the Gulf of Mexico, causing the worst oil spill in history. Until the definitive closure of the well on the 19th September, 779 037 744 litres of crude oil, and over 7000000 litres of dispersants were released into the sea.
 

As the two directors investigate deeper, the more they discover about the covert politicking and corruption at work, placing financial imperatives above any other interests. Josh Tickell already made a film about the new fuels: Fuel, a documentary about a “veggie van”, a bus which ran on used cooking oil, in order to make the general public aware of the new biocarburants. For the director, “films enable an awareness to be developed about contemporary issues thanks to the fact that they are personal and accessible. No other form of report or study could impact your mind as much as a film.” For Josh Tickell, cinema is hence a forum for political debate which can lay bare the aberrations of the contemporary world.

N.S.

The film is screened in the Salle du Soixantième at 8.00pm