The Gold Under Our Feet

Baku in Azerbaijan, is the site of the world’s first oil well, and once again is becoming a focus for foreign investors eager to exploit the country’s vast oil riches.

Source(Zdroj) traces the pipeline from our commuter highways back to this surreal and sinister landscape on which much of the world’s way of life depends. A place where where cows graze on polluted land and children play in toxic gunge. With three quarters of the population living under the poverty line, the country's post-Soviet government is promising oil will return Azerbaijan into a “real country”, a prosperous and flourishing "New Kuwait". But between big oil companies like British Petroleum and the corrupt government lining their pockets, what does this mean for the ordinary people of Azerbaijan?

Is this "liquid gold" more of a curse than a blessing for this troubled country?

Director Martin Marecek and his inventive film crew get incredible access plus a good helping of (suitably) black humor as they interview a fascinating cross section of people involved with and affected by the oil boom - allegedly corrupt politicians, oil company employees, businessmen, and angry women whose husbands and sons work for very little money in shockingly polluted conditions.

Mixed in with the traditional hand-held face-to-face interviews are some wonderfully mechanistic animations of how oil underlies the life we live. A life where no one seems to be smiling...

Links

The Source website is a great place to find out more about the filmmakers, context of the documentary and if nothing else, enjoy the film’s animations designed by Petr Smalec.

Source is part of the auto-mat collective, a group of artists, politicians, experts and politicians in Prague who want to make their city a better place for them and their children to live