True Action: Blood & Oil
The Curtis Graham directed Blood & Oil delivers a powerful story about a very real problem in Nigeria… a problem that started decades ago when oil was first discovered in the Nigerian village of Oloibiri.
After two decades of drilling was done and their money was made, the United States oil companies pulled out of Nigeria and left the area with an unstable economy and with polluted water that made the inhabitants sick… to this day there is still no potable water in the Niger Delta and fishing is a thing of the past.
- The Movie: Blood & Oil tells the story of a new corporation coming in after more oil was discovered in the region and the reaction to this news… for village elder Timpriye (Olu Jacobs) it dredges up horrible memories from the past. During the 60’s as the oil drilling was just beginning, Timpriye was an activist speaking up for the people of the region and their land. For Gunpowder (Ricjard Mofe-Damijo) and his army of militant soldiers the news that oil rights had been granted again is a declaration of war. And Gunpowder has declared war on pretty much everybody… the actual company doing the drilling, the natives who work the company and feed their bellies while the world around them is crumbling and the elders who didn’t stop the oil drilling back when it first started…. Gunpowder even has problems with his own mother in this one!
- American Influence: William R. Moses plays Robert Powell, the head of the corporation that now has drilling rights in Nigeria. We are introduced to Powell at a shareholders meeting where he talks about how the company stands to make 300 million in profits due to these new oil rights. But after Powell receives some photographs of the effects the oil drilling has had on the people and the environment of the Niger Delta region, he makes arrangements to travel to Nigeria and see what can be done to stop this suffering. Powell is genuinely concerned and seems committed to being different that the oil companies that came before his, but this doesn’t matter to Gunpowder…
- This Can’t Be Real: This is where the story started feeling less true (although some would say the moment they showed a CEO of a corporation actually having a heart it was pure movie magic)… we learn that Gunpowder has actually infiltrated Powell’s corporation, Powell’s executive assistant is Azu (Dayton Sinkia) is a member of Gunpowder’s militant group. They have set up covert cameras at the corporate headquarters so Gunpowder can watch Powell in his office every day (Oloibiri has no potable water but a great Internet connection apparently). Once Powell makes his way to Nigeria, Azu and another member of Gunpowder’s army, hold Powell’s wife and daughter hostage until Gunpowder can convince Powell to give up his oil drilling rights. Meanwhile, Powell who at this point has landed in Nigeria and is getting a military escort to the drilling site finds his caravan ambushed and soon our oil tycoon is running for his life through the jungle. Powell eventually gets help from Timpriye and Timpriye’s physician and his grandson… but it isn’t long before Gunpowder and his men show up in the village and find Powell and take him and his new found friends prisoner… which puts all three of our main characters in the same place at the same time.
Did Blood & Oil deliver on the truth? More on that in a moment… but Blood & Oil certainly delivered a story with strong characters and strong performances… Gunpowder/Timpriye felt like two sides of the same coin. They both wanted what was best for their village and they both wanted the oil companies to pay for what they did to their land, but approached the issue in very different ways.
- The True Story: As best I can tell Blood & Oil is using the “based on a true story” concept loosely. While Nigerian militants have attacked oil installations and have kidnapped employees at those installations, I have found no information about and elaborate plan to kidnap an oil tycoon while in Nigeria. There was also nothing about an oil tycoon’s family being held hostage in exchange for an oil company giving up their drilling rights. But the most real and harsh truth in Blood & Oil lies in the prolonged effects on the quality of life in the Niger Delta region after decades of drilling and over 2,100 oil spills. So if nothing else Blood & Oil has helped raise awareness of the problem… a problem that hopefully can one day be fixed.
Blood & Oil is now available for VOD streaming on Vimeo, iTunes and Amazon!
