Black Wave: The Legacy of the Exxon Valdez Trailer (2009)

On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground spewing millions of gallons of crude into Prince William Sound. A thick, sticky mass washed into thousands of bays and inlets. Media poured into Cordova, Alaska and images of oil-covered seabirds and otters flashed around the world. Exxon promised to make the environment and townspeople "whole." Black Wave masterfully integrates original news footage, shocking statistics, and personal testimonies to produce a powerful indictment of corporate greed and irresponsibility. Robert Cornellier lays bare ExxonMobil's hypocrisy by exposing 20 years of tactics geared solely at avoiding responsibility for the worst environmental disaster in North American history. Meanwhile, the townspeople of Cordova fought and lost against ExxonMobil in the longest legal battle in US history, while the oil giant's annual profits rose from $5.2 to $40.6 billion. The verdict: in a world run by multinationals, citizens are on their own.