The Naked Option, an intimate portrayal of oil in Nigeria
Combining activism, adventure and environmental awareness creates the inspiring force of the Wild & Scenic Film Festival. Films including these three forces have the strength to change lives. The Naked Option has this potential.
The Naked Option reveals the inspiring story of an organized group of Nigerian women who use the threat of stripping naked in public, a serious cultural taboo, in their deadly struggle to hold the oil companies accountable to the communities in which they operate. The women, at the risk of being raped, beaten or killed, are trained and armed, but not with anything you can see. Through the leadership of the courageous, charismatic, and inexhaustible Emem J. Okon, these women are taking over where men have failed, peacefully transforming their ‘naked power’ into 21st century political action and mobilization.
Through the personal stories of Mama Bata, Aret Obobo and Lucky Ogodo, residents of Ugborodo and Amukpe, communities where oil giants Chevron and Shell operate, The Naked Option reveals the strength, the power, and the drive of the women to fight environmental ruin, loss of livelihoods, brutality, and corruption perpetrated by these corporate giants. Living in the only militarized zone in Nigeria and cemented firmly on the bottom rung of an already impoverished social and economic ladder, these women constantly struggle to maintain healthy, equitable, and self-sustaining livelihoods. We witness the hurdles that drive them to risk their lives taking over major oil-producing flow stations.
Stripping naked in public, a sacred weapon of last resort, has given them unprecedented power over both government and oil through landmark moments in Nigerian history. Their anger erupted July 8, 2002 when for ten days, 600 rural peasant women, ages 20 – 90, took over Chevron, the largest oil producing facility in Nigeria, which is the third largest oil supplier to the United States. Unarmed, they held 700 male workers hostage. The women blocked the flow of a half million barrels of oil a day by threatening to strip naked in public. Actual footage of events combines with first-hand accounts from Mama Bata, Lucky, and Aret who, in the summer of 2002, joined the wave of women’s uprisings that swept the Niger Delta. We discover how Emem Okon plays a crucial role in the women’s ability to negotiate with Chevron.
Filming in the militarized zone of Nigeria poses significant risks. The film is shot guerilla in style, predominantly on the fly, using a handheld camera, natural light, and a limited crew of 1-2. The lack of electricity, inadequate lighting, constant noise, stifling heat, filthy air, and military presence are visual illustrations of the many physical constraints which are woven into the film to show the hurdles the women are up against.
Candace Schermerhorn wrote, produced and directed The Naked Option. The film is her second independent feature, although she brings over 20 years of experience as an award-winning producer, director and writer. Her credits include the independent cutting edge documentary You Don’t Know Dick, an intimate film about female-to-male transsexuals whose many awards included a Golden Apple Award from the National Educational Media Network and was nominated for a GLAAD AWARD; work for Children’s Television Workshop, Gold Hugo Awards for Harcourt Brace Publishers, the National Park Service, The Fund for Santa Barbara, Los Compadres: Young Men’s Project and Turner Broadcasting. Candace was the Director of Programming for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for 7 years. She teaches documentary filmmaking at Santa Barbara City College and is a contributing editor for Ecology.com. She is currently in preproduction of her third independent feature, The Last Utopia, about how rising sea levels are forcing an ancient seafaring culture to become climate refugees and how a passing sailor has decided to get them help.
Watch The Naked Option at NC Elementary Friday, January 13 or at Masons, Sunday, January 15. Filmmaker Candace Schermerhorn will be speaking in conjunction with her film.
For more about the film visit their website, or for more on the challenges of filming in Nigerian militarized zones, read Candace’s Director’s Journal.
