The Oil Machine - a story of the world's emotional entanglement with oil
- Beth Williams
- Jun 29, 2022
- 2 min read
(Image: Supplied )
Sonja Henrici's new documentary The Oil Machine premiered at one of the UK’s leading documentary festivals SheffieldDoc Fest last week.
Directed by Emma Davie, the documentary explores the world’s economic, historical and emotional entanglement with oil by looking at the conflicting imperatives around North Sea oil. We see how the oil rigs of the North Sea connect to the stock market of London, as well as its environmental impact. With only five to ten years left to curb our addiction to oil, the film explores the complexities of transitioning away from oil and gas as a society and considers how quickly can we do it?
The Oil Machine brings together the many voices in the fight surrounding oil. Holly Gillibrand (dubbed “Scotland’s Greta”), Kevin Anderson (Professor of Energy & Climate Change, Manchester University), Emeka Emembolu (Senior VP of BP North Sea) are amongst the voices and opinions featured in this project.
From the workers whose livelihoods are at risk to the next generation of activists who passionately protest against oil’s role in climate change, Davie makes sure all viewpoints are covered in this environmental must-watch.
Speaking about the film’s premiere, director Emma said: “This documentary was initiated by a sense of the urgency of addressing the issue of the oil in our own backyard. I feel that the huge “elephant in the room” in terms of the UK’s aspiration to be climate change leaders is North Sea Oil. We wanted to express an emotional as well as analytical look at where we are at with North Sea Oil.”
The producer and Sonja Henrici Creates’ eponymous founder added; Producer Sonja Henrici said: “Since COP26 the global context of oil has totally changed with more pressure for local production and energy security, but there is still an imperative to shift things to avoid climate disaster. We were not seeking easy answers, but felt that the problems needed to be clearly named and explored for us to move forward. By hearing very different opinions about the future of North Sea Oil, we hope to look at the real complexities of transitioning from oil as a society.“
The Oil Machine was made for BBC Scotland and was supported by The National Lottery through Screen Scotland.
FOR MORE INFO:
Comentários