Crude Sacrifice Lawrence Carota, Canada, 2009, 52 minutes
Saturday, May 8 | 8:30pm | Vancity Theatre
Sunday, May 16 | 12:00pm | Vancity Theatre
The environmental and human catastrophe that goes by the name of the tar sands of Northern Alberta has wreaked havoc not only on the people who live in the area, but also on the very ecosystem itself. Soil, water and wildlife have all suffered the consequences of dirty oil production. Lawrence Carota’s incendiary film, some three years in the making, is a searing indictment of government collusion with corporate interests, and a cri de coeur about the future of the planet.
With Canada largely replacing Saudi Arabia as the principal supplier of crude oil to the US, and demand for fuel spiraling ever upwards, large sections of Northern Alberta have become a veritable moonscape (the tar sands massive tailing ponds are visible from space). The effects of crude oil production on humans, however, have only recently been made clear with clusters of rare cancers occurring in remote Northern communities, water that is so laden with heavy metals it’s not fit for human consumption and wildlife riddled with tumours. When Dr. John O’Connor reported his findings to the Alberta Health Board, he was accused of causing ‘undue alarm’ for merely stating that cancer rates in the communities he served were far outside the normal range. In some cases, more than 30% higher.
Andrew Nikiforuk (interviewed in the film), who has written extensively about the issue in his book Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent, states: “A business-as-usual case for the tar sands will change Canada forever. It will enrich a few powerful companies, hollow out the economy, destroy the world’s third-largest watershed, industrialize nearly one-quarter of Alberta’s landscape, consume the last of the nation’s natural gas supplies, and erode Canadian sovereignty....” Even as the citizens of Fort Chipewyan and Fort McMurray protest on the lawn of the Alberta legislature, and an area the size of Florida is consumed, the juggernaut of corporate interests and profit rolls on. As research chemist Dr. Jeffrey Short says, the situation “ultimately will put the Exxon Valdez to shame, in terms of scale, once the full impact of the tar sands becomes known.”
Filmmaker in attendance
Director’s biography
Lawrence Carota’s role was threefold during the production of Crude Sacrifice: primary financier, cinematographer, and director. Some of the films he’s produced throughout his 30-year career in filmmaking are A Nurses Opinion, Recognition and Respect, A Time for Change, This Business of Living and Keepers of the Light. Most of Carota’s films have dealt with the subjects of change and loss.
