How are a Sudanese refugee and a Kurdish farmer connected to the responsibility of Austrian companies?
Two big Austrian companies promise responsibility.
Two situations contradict this.
The film shows on the one hand how much/little two Austrian companies (OMV and VA Tech Hydro) value Corporate Social Responsibility. On the other hand it reveals what remains of the company’s promise to responsibility at the end of the chain of influence where the actions of the companies make an impact: in a village located in the flooding area of a barrage in South-Eastern Turkey and in a village in an exploration field in Southern Sudan.
In southern Sudan people have been living for years as refugees because they had been forced militarily by the government to leave their land.
In southeastern Anatolia Kurdish villages are flooded due to a state-run dam project. The inhabitants are scattered in all directions. The Turkish government doesn’t supply them with the essentials for resettlement. Governmental compensation is not made in most cases.
Reasons for both situations are cooperation between the Government and big corporations. The Sudanese Government forced the people to leave their land in order to ensure that the foreign oil companies would be able to explore for oil. One of these companies was the Austrian oil company OMV.
Governmental dam projects in southeast Anatolia are supplied by the Austrian VA-Tech Hydro.
The Reproach: Business cooperation far from addresses problems of human rights.
Nevertheless both companies are regarded as forerunners for Corporate Social Responsibility in Austria. This means basically that they don’t only see their responsibility in making profits but also in trying to act both socially and ecologically beyond what is legally mandated.
Theory versus reality. This film shows the contradiction.
Credits
Cinematographer: Sudan - TIMTOM, Turkey - Emanuel Danesch, Vienna - Krisztina Kerekes / Thomas Münster / TIMTOM
Sound: Stefan Holzer / Robert Gründler / Christian Schröder / Michael Zeilinger
Editing: Emanuel Danesch
Sound Design and Mixture: Christian Schröder / Robert Gründler
Title Design and Digital Colour Correction: Nina Gaugelhofer
Production: Simone Höller / Margarethe Weiss
Interpreter: Sudan - Moses Telar, Turkey - Didar Can / Cem Turkel / Nishtiman Erdede
Translation: Sudan - Joseph Bol Agau / Moses Telar / Manut Juan Akuei /
Butros Konny, Turkey - Sedat Pero
Footage: Genua - Nils Olger, Turkey - Remzi Maral
With Support of AKG, DKA, JVC, OEZA, WWF
Download film at DocAir: http://www.doc-air.com