What attracted me to The Pipe is its simplicity of topic which outlines the complexities faced by the people cornered by an oil giant, abandoned by the state and beaten and incarcerated by the law enforcement. A winner at the Galway Film Fleadh, it tells the story of a small village’s fight with one of the worlds biggest oil company in order to preserve it generational heritage, the inherited farmlands and homes.
In West Ireland’s remote area of Broadhaven Bay, behind the golden sand dunes, rests the village of Rossport. When in 1996 a gas field was found off the west coast, Shell quickly moved and proposed to built an off-shore pipeline that would run through the Rossport village to join the refinery at Bellanaboy. Most of the residents that included the farmers as well as fisherman, priests and teachers felt that the pipeline was dangerously close to their homes and businesses putting both of them at risk. Shell, pushing aside their concerns, decided to advance with their plans and then, all hell broke loose.
The documentary goes on to capture the villager’s struggle as they fight for their lands and waters. Contradicting factors that surface as the documentary moves along are that the sand in the bay is protected by the European Union whereas the government is backing Shell. The state that should be protecting the villager’s right is putting power in the hands of the police, a private security firm and the navy, allowing them to do as they please and neglecting their atrocities. The villagers are being arrested and incarcerated for trying to protect their homes and businesses.
The documentary is proof of how governments are ready to get in bed with big oil companies for profit, neglecting or crushing the rights of citizens and endangering their homes.