The opening sequence of Crude features Marina Aguinda, an elder of the Cofán indigenous group, singing in her native language about the destruction of her people’s homeland. The scene was captured on one of our last filming trips in Ecuador, and for me, it was an unforgettable experience.
We first met Madre Marina (as she is known in her village) in early 2006, on one of our first trips to Ecuador. We were immediately drawn to her incredible face and presence, but she initially wanted nothing to do with us. As we later learned, her experiences with gringos had previously been extremely negative.
As we spent more time in the village over the following months and years, Madre Marina eventually came to welcome us warmly. On the day she sang for us in the summer of 2008, we were interviewing her and some of the other elders from the village. They told us about the loss of culture they had experienced after Texaco’s arrival, and the death of their shaman. Marina also told us her heartbreaking personal story of how she was violated by oil workers and left her community for many years, living as a prostitute. As we talked about the Cofán culture and traditions that had been lost, music naturally came up. We asked if anyone could play or sing for us, but no one seemed interested.
When the interviews were over, we stopped filming to eat lunch – rice and occasional bits of chicken, prepared in a communal cauldron in the middle of the village. Suddenly, Marina appeared before us. Her face was painted, and she’d placed a beautiful flower through her nose. We immediately put down what was left of our food and grabbed the cameras. Marina took us out to a small clearing in the forest, and she began to sing the beautiful, haunting melody that is featured in the opening and closing scenes of Crude.
I am forever grateful to Madre Marina for her generosity of spirit and her willingness to share her song with us. She says that she sings, “so the world can know what has been done” to her people. We hope that her voice travels far and wide.
-Michael Bonfiglio, Producer/2nd Unit Director
