Film Review : White Earth

The documentary short films are the great beneficiaries  of the Academy”s magnanimity, both in continuing to recognize an outdated format and in directing attention towards worthy causes. Its one way AMPAS demonstrates its engagement with various social issues , nearly always celebrating subject matter over cinematic achievement , as evidenced by its selection of two Polish-made terminal-illness portraits , two serious- minded employment impact studies and a pressing look at the veteran suicide epidemic.

Fortunately, a couple of these norms specifically “White Earth”are truly exceptional films in their own right.'White Earth' directed and written by Christian Jensen ,  is a documentary with the duration of about 20 minutes.It was released on 18^th January,2014 .

The film explores life in the oil boom through the eyes of four children and an immigrant mother. The documentary was nominated for the “Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject ) at the 87^th Academy Awards. In the snowy North Dakota, depicted in “White Earth”, director Christian Jensen chronicles the influx of opportunity seekers to a quiet oil-drilling town , ignoring the labourers in favour of their families. 

It’s obvious why the men have come , so the film wisely privileges their kids, who sometimes go weeks without seeing their parents , describing the pungent gas smell that permeates their clothes when they come home. Oil becomes an everyday staple in their lives and the sole reason they can afford to survive cold winters. Without censor or reason to be diplomatic, they share the pros and cons of the industry it relates to their personal childhoods. For them, the American Dream is little more than a phrase they may have never even heard. The oil is already in their blood since its existence is most likely a driving force for their escape. 

Jensen”s film becomes an educational look at the Northern Plain’s changing landscape via those who to experience what it means to live there.  Their  fathers spend so much time on the rigs that home respites are spent sleeping rather than living. To them, this way of life is a means to an end , for their children it’s the only reality they know. 

No one can therefore blame them for their frustrations , unable to reconcile adulthood responsibility with their yearning to be loved.  We know their parents do it for that love, but these middle-schoolers only see their isolation in a desolate world far removed from what they used to know. It would appear crude oil always creates a hot button issue for American families , not just the reserves in the Middle East.   

This year, all five noms are chasing some ineffable sense of poetry, but only Jensen achieves it with this Stanford master’s thesis project , collecting and arranging details in a way that makes it feel as if we’re experiencing the scene in person, fending off the cold and chasing the dream. 

Rupkatha Ghosh
Msc.Media || PG:1