Virunga: How a Netflix Documentary Fought an Oil Company
Figure 1. Virunga Promotional Poster – Netflix.
The Netflix documentary Virunga (Orlando von Einsiedel, 2014) tells the story of Congo’s national park, Virunga, home to the world’s last remaining mountain gorillas. It reveals the fight of the Congolese park-rangers to protect the park and its inhabitants from oil company Soco international, who attempt to take advantage of the Congolese war to bribe and extort their way into the park.
Part creative documentary and part investigative journalism, Von Einsiedel struck an engaging balance that he himself described as a “campaign film”. In achieving the film’s primary aim of raising maximum awareness to the threats imposed on the park, the film utilised Netflix as its distributer, celebrities to champion the film, and had a clear outline of goals and tactics for audience mobilisation and impact [1][2].
Filmmaker von Einsiedel believed that the outcome of Virunga national park would set the precedent for other world heritage sites and vulnerable societies at risk of exploitation for profit [3]. Therefore, the team behind Virunga included specific tactics for audience mobilisation on their website, for viewers who wished to engage in the battle to protect the park [4]. Audiences were encouraged to take action by spreading the word about the film, donating to the park and also to disrupt Soco oil by pressuring shareholders in Soco to review their investments and make ethical decisions. In helping audience members identify shareholders to write to, producers of Virunga released a public list of all major British and international pension funds that are financially invested in Soco [5]. The team behind Virunga also engaged with the shareholder community directly by holding selective screenings for shareholders with following Q&A sessions. This allowed the film to reach an audience that could have a direct impact on Soco’s actions in Virunga. The private screenings served to educate shareholders in a safe environment, away from public scrutiny and presented evidence that viewers could then take forward to Soco directly [6]. The film successfully inspired several shareholders to engage with campaign goals and the Church of England divested from Soco in the aftermath of the documentary’s release, outlining their reasons for choosing to do so in a public statement [7].
During the first 18 months after the film’s release Virunga national park received a steady influx of donations from viewers, with financial support peaking at the time of its Netflix launch and Oscar nomination [8]. Creative documentaries have found a lengthy shelf life and wider outreach (Virunga is available in 190 countries and to a potential audience of 75 million Netflix subscribers) by employing digital distributors [9]. Netflix both served to support the production of Virunga and launched its marketing and awards campaign. Netflix allows filmmakers to take a more direct political stance and subjective view than traditional news outlets, freeing the content from institutional constraints [10].
The film won the 2015 Primetime Emmy award for best cinematography. In addition to raising public awareness by winning this award, the cinematography assisted in the campaign of the film by visually presenting the vivid landscape of the national park and the life that calls it home. The still (figure. 2) from the film demonstrates how the cinematography captures the emotional connection between park-ranger and gorilla. The eyes of the mountain gorilla linger on the lens of the camera as if to directly call upon an audience to engage with the film’s campaign.
Figure 2. A still from the movie Virunga, André Bauma with a mountain gorilla.
The film team employed other methods to emotionally engage an audience and inspire mobilisation. Park-ranger, André Bauma makes the statement, “if it is about dying, I will die for the gorillas.”. This single line is enough to identify the park-rangers as the selfless heroes of the documentary and the likes of poachers and Soco as the villains. This is an example of mobilising shame as a means of enforcing human rights [11]. It pressurises the Goliath company, Soco to stop encroaching into Virunga and putting both gorilla and protector in danger. Soco’s violations become known and the audience are encouraged to react. The Virunga team purposefully hired an editor with a background in drama films, believing that this editing style will create a greater emotional connect with the audience [12].
The film employed environmental activist and Hollywood star, Leonardo DiCaprio as executive producer of the film. DiCaprio utilised his high-profile celebrity status to raise awareness, encourage high profile advocates and increase funds for the film. Whilst DiCaprio’s voice is not heard on the screen his twitter presence is certainly felt and when he tweeted the news of Virunga’s Oscar nomination it received the attention of over 1700 retweets. This illustrates twitters position as a digital space for activism and mobilisation. By retweeting DiCaprio’s message an audience can “take action” by keeping the film in the spotlight. The Virunga website encourages viewers to tweet with the hashtag, #TeamVirunga to localise and promote the discussion on the film.
Screenings offer a public space for viewing and discussion and LeonardoDiCaprio hosted a private screening attended by Bill and Hilary Clinton who could then engage with the contents of the film at a geopolitical level.
Figure 3. Executive producer Leonardo DiCaprio with 42ndU.S President, Bill Clinton.
The campaign to protect Virunga national park from Congo’s ongoing conflict and outside forces is one of needed longevity, as illustrated by DiCaprio’s recent reminder to be vigilant and donate to the cause. However, the success of Virunga (2014) is clear. The film succeeds in its campaign to raise awareness of the fight for Virunga national park and serves as an example of how campaign documentaries can find success on Netflix. Netflix helped the film to reach a global audience and in doing so cultivated the necessary pressure on Soco to release a statement about their activity in Virunga and withdraw from the area. Celebrity endorsements and awards have helped to keep the Virunga in the spotlight four years after its release, finding new viewers to still engage with the film [13].
Filmography
Virunga. UK, Congo.(Orlando von Einsiedel, 2014).
Bibliography
[1]Associated Press. (2014). “Days after shooting “Virunga” debuts at Tribeca. Daily Mail.
[2]Media Impact Funders. 2015. Virunga.
[4]https://virungamovie.com/#takeaction
[5]Vidal, J. (2014). Virunga film-makers ask viewers to join campaign against oil company Soco. National Parks. The Guardian.
[6]Doc Impact Awards. 2016. Virunga. DocImpactAwards.
[7]Vaughan, A. Church of England divests from Socio oil firm over Virunga operations. Keep it in the ground. The Guardian
[8]Media Impact Funders. 2015.
[10]Goldson, A. (2015) “Journalism Plus? The resurgence of creative documentary”, Pacific Journalism Review: Te Koakoa, 21(2), pp. 86-98.
[11]Keenan, T. (2004) Mobilising Shame. The South Atlantic Quarterly. 103 (2/3). pp. 435-449
[12]Fuchs, E. (2014). A constantly driving feeling: Interview with Orlando von Einsiedel.Interviews. Popmatters.
[13]WWF. (2014). Together we did it! Virunga safe from immediate oil threat.