Welcome to what some call “Rainforest Chernobyl.” Justicia Now, a documentary presented at the Amnesty International Film Festival, is the story of 30,000 Ecuadorians who organized the largest environmental class action lawsuit in history against Chevron/Texaco.

The American oil company contaminated the northern Ecuadorian region of the Amazon rainforest by leaving behind around 1,000 open toxic waste pits when they left the country in 1992. These open pits, along with 18 billion gallons of wastewater, are polluting the water that locals depend on.

According to ChevronToxico, a campaign for justice against the oil company, contamination has caused many to suffer birth defects, cancer and miscarriages. It’s what aerial artist Jon Quigley, one of the documentary’s main characters, calls “the worst oil contamination in history.”

The lawsuit began in 1993 and marks the first time an American company has been charged in foreign court over environmental crimes. Even though there are 80,000 sample results from the oil contamination, Chevron/Texaco continues to deny any responsibility. They claim locals are getting sick because of bacteria in the water and because they aren’t washing their hands before eating.

In 2008, a court-appointed independent expert recommended that Chevron/Texaco be liable for damages between $7 billion and $16.3 billion for the 26 years they operated in the region. The lawsuit is ongoing, and 90 per cent of the Ecuadorian Amazon is planned for oil exploration.

The film’s footage doesn’t shy away from showing viewers what’s really happening in the rainforest. A lizard is found covered in oil and dies while the camera is rolling. A crying woman with cancer yells for justice before a crowd. Several hundred people line up, under Quigley’s direction, by the abandoned oil pits to spell out the words “Justice Now.”

We rely on filmmakers, photographers and journalists to show us these violations of human rights, violations we might not otherwise be aware of. The mainstream media moves quickly from one disaster to the next and, for the most part, seems to be no longer structured around in-depth reporting.

Justicia Now is a documentary that allows the audience to learn the complexities of this disaster while inspiring public dialogue. The film is helping the issue gain international attention and will hopefully protect the lawsuit from corruption.

“I hope people leave the theatre with a healthy sense of outrage,” said Zapf. “And I hope they go and do something about it.”

Anyone interested in seeing Justicia Now can watch it for free at mofilms.org.