Big Men

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les n 03/13/2021 A depressingly familiar story, being reenacted again and again. See more 12/30/2018 Big Men: 9 out of 10: A documentary focused on the acquisition and exploration of Ghanaian oil fields by Dallas based company Kosmos Energy. Big Men also follows the activities of a rebel group in nearby Nigeria that destroys pipelines to force the government to bring more funds to their region. There are a lot of moving parts that can make a documentary great. On paper, this should not be that good a documentary. The subject matter of an American oil exploration company negotiating with a government for oil leasing and exploration rights is not exactly sexy. The film also splits its story with trips to Nigeria for a somewhat unrelated narrative about poverty and rebel activity in the oil fields. The filming is decent with off-camera questions being shouted by the filmmaker but this is just a step above Dateline most of the time. Two things not just save this movie but lift it to one of the best documentaries I have seen this year. First is the access. Rachel Boynton has complete access to everyone. The oil guys invite her into their offices and homes, The Ghanian government is very open (At least for a while), and the rebels basically take her along while they do everything. It really is amazing. The second thing is this becomes a much more interesting story than either Rachel or the various participants could ever know. May you live in interesting times may be a Chinese curse but t is a documentary filmmakers blessing. Two quibbles and or questions though. I wish the film was a bit more upfront about the stock ownership of certain participants before it is revealed later in the film. Would have put some of the "crisis" in better perspective. Second is where the hell did all those rebels get all those ski masks in the middle of the Nigerian Jungle? This film has made me a Rachel Boynton fan for life. She may not be the most polished documentary maker but she is one of the best and one of the luckiest. See more 01/28/2017 A not-unsurprising documentary - albeit a successful one - about corruption and its temptations, and a country facing a choice about the sort of nation it wants to be. See more 06/09/2016 Eye opening look into big oil in Ghana-06/09/16 See more 05/21/2016 In Rachel Boynton's "Big Men", Nigerian journalist, Patrick Naagbanton, tells us with conviction: "Everyone is striving to be a big man or big woman. I mean there is a savage struggle for wealth." And this indeed proves to be true when it comes to speculating for big oil in (or from) Ghana, Nigeria and the USA. Although, I must add that the documentary "Big Men" is, categorically, about how (only) men tussle for recognition, power and money derived from the oil business. You will find a noticeable absence of women's perspectives (in this ubiquitous tale of resource speculation and inequality), except for the three lone voices of the filmmaker, a random local newscaster, and the then (2009-2011) minister of culture and attorney general of Ghana, Betty Mould-Idrissu. This does leave the viewer wondering, where have all the women gone in this "savage struggle" for black gold? See more 05/27/2015 Superbly crafted documentary shot in evolution, real-time , yielding an insiders view on the economics, politics and complexity involved in the discovery and extraction of big Oil...and hence Big money...a must see See more Read all reviews

Big Men

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