While multinational Lapindo was drilling for natural gas in Indonesia’s East Java in 2006, they hit an underground mud volcano, unleashing a tsunami of hot mud that covered an area twice the size of Central Park. Roads, factories and homes were destroyed, 20 lives were lost and nearly 40,000 people displaced. In a film that inspires one to fight against injustice, we see that over a decade later the mud still flows and neither Lapindo nor the government have made the reparations that they promised. Dian was six years old at the time and her mother Harwati has struggled to raise her. The mother/daughter duo, along with many neighbours, fight against the corporate powers accused of one of the largest environmental disasters in recent history. The film bears witness to Dian’s transformation from a young girl to a politically active teenager determined to defend the powerless. Heather Haynes.
Co-presented with Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival.