One of the things that excited us about this story was the way it naturally crossed paths with so many different locations and worlds. But connecting all of the locations (we shot in numerous Ecuadorean locations, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, London, Boulder and New Jersey) proved challenging in the edit room. In this scene, we bridged the continental divide by following Emergildo Criollo’s story, shot in his Cofán village in the Ecuadorean Amazon, to Houston, TX, and illustrate it with starkly contrasting visuals.
The cut from Emergildo’s sunset canoe trip to the concrete jungle of Houston not only allowed us to continue the story of Emergildo’s journey as he confronted Chevron’s top brass at their annual shareholders meeting (the year we shot this scene, 2006, it was held in the former Enron building, an interesting bit of irony), but also communicates in a quick and visual manner the contrast between the battlegrounds on which this case is being waged and the worlds that separate the adversaries, both physically and culturally. When we cut to Houston, the language also changes, from English to Spanish, further accentuating this divide.
The Houston scene is also the viewer’s first introduction to Steven Donziger, the plaintiffs’ American consulting attorney. As Steven emerges as a key figure in the film, it seemed appropriate to introduce him not in Ecuador, but in the United States, to show the unique role he plays in the case.
-Joe Berlinger, Director/Producer
