New doccie lays bare on Wentworth's air pollution
The director of a documentary about Wentworth's decades-long battle with the petroleum industry says he's re-igniting awareness about the knock-on impact of air pollution in the Durban south area.
The Greenpeace Africa's film is titled: Crude: Wentworth Community vs Big Oil.
It opened at the 1- minute Film Festival in Johannesburg last week.
Director Angelo Louw says over the years, big oil companies have not empowered the community, but instead aided its spiral into poverty and left residents with ill health.
The documentary delves into research from UKZN on the health impact in the area, and how Wentworth came to be a cancer cluster.
The film features local environmentalists and stories from affected residents, who say they've constantly been sidelined by the companies and the industry.
"Movies like this that explain how these oil companies, these people who are making massive profits are causing whole communities to not just spiral but have an impact on the environment and also an impact on health.
"They have an impact on the economic stability of the community and on gender-based violence.
“It's because of films like Crude we are beginning to understand that our lived experience really have these single root causes and for us to address any of these issues we have to stand together."
Watch the trailer below:
