Documentaries about big companies and a specific issue are usually pretty predictable and hardly objective: The big company is pure evil, everything they do is bad and usually this is proven by showing the company wasn’t willing to be interviewed. This isn’t to say that they might talk about valid issues, but every story has more sides to it and not everything is as black and white as they might lead you to believe. Big Men talks about oil company Kosmos Energy which wants to start with the exploitation of a newly discovered oil field in Ghana.
The country hasn’t got much experience with the consequences the oil trade can have on its society, but one of its neighbouring countries, Nigeria, does. There the people of the country have not seen an improvement to the environment they live in while the government is earning a lot of money with lucrative contracts. Several groups have decided to do something about it and are sabotaging oil pipes and demand improvement. It hasn’t come that far in Ghana yet, but it is threat if money made by oil exploitation isn’t invested into the country. For Kosmos Energy (which gets its money through venture capitalists) the project is a high risk one, but also one which could mean them earning billions of dollars. Big men shows that there are a lot of obstacles to deal with though before that can happen. Changes in government, possible bribery and signed contracts which might become invalid are all realities they have to deal with. The result is a documentary in which both the interests of the company but also for those involved are looked at.
The thing which is so refreshing about the film is that it shows all sides of the story and leaves it up to the viewer to form his own opinion about it. Of course the American company will earn a lot of money if they succeed, but they have invested a lot of money into something other weren’t willing to do as there weren’t any guarantees of finding oil. Ghana has the possibility to grow as a country if the contracts are right, but only has to look at Nigeria to see the dangers oil can bring to the country (and do something to prevent it). The fact that everyone involved is interviewed and is actually candid with their answers means Big Men is able to show the nuance which is often missing in these type of documentaries.
Sounds interesting! I haven’t heard of this one, but I’m usually pretty behind on documentaries these days. Nice review, Nostra! I always enjoy when a movie (especially a documentary) doesn’t try to force the viewer to see it from one perspective, but leaves it to them to decide what they think.
It really is. I hadn’t heard from it either and came across it, so I’m happy I gave this one a chance.