"We’re living inside the oil machine," describes writer and activist James Marriott, one of the faces of this film. "Oil has shaped our lives for decades and also our thinking and feelings." Oil has been intertwined in our economic system and society in complex ways - so tightly that you could say we have developed an addiction to it.

 

The scientific community has made it clear to us for some time now that this addiction has to end and we only have a few years left to change our ways. Is this the end of oil? And how could the oil machine be dismantled or tamed?

 

The British documentary film The Oil Machine, directed by Emma Davie, addresses these questions. Centered on the North Sea oil industry, the film maps our relationship with oil and its future, introducing us to several key players in the equation. Young activists and members of the scientific community as well as oil workers, investors and representatives of the oil and gas industry all get their voices heard.

 

The result is a gripping and complex picture of the oil machine, a film that should be on the watch list of all those interested in the future of our planet and social system.

​

After the film there's a discussion with energy and climate expert Kaisa Kosonen and former Minister of the Environment Emma Kari.

 

Text: Hanna Markkanen