Alberta Oil Sands Documentary ‘Downstream’ Now Viewable Online

If you haven’t already seen the controversial environmental documentary ‘Downstream’, by acclaimed filmmaker Leslie Iwerks, now’s your chance to view it in full online at Babelgum. The 2008 Oscar shortlisted film is hosted on “Our Earth”, Babelgum’s channel dedicated to nature and the environment.

About the short film:

With Canada (not Saudi Arabia) as the U.S.’s primary source of oil, the film relates how one courageous doctor fights for the lives of the aboriginal people residing downstream from the oil sands of Alberta, one of the most polluting and burgeoning oil operations in the world (over a million barrels of oil per day to the U.S.). The doctor spots a surprising increase in the rate of a rare type of cancer among the townspeople of Ft. Chipewyan, while the citizens have seen an increased amount of wildlife deformities in the river and ecosystem over the last 10 years.

Check out the trailer below:

A public screening of the film will be held by MP leader of the democratic party in Ottowa, Olivia Chow, in Toronto on April 14th – but the rest of us can now enjoy this critical look at just how destructive the Alberta oil sands really are in the comfort of our own living rooms.

Link [Babelgum]

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