Unearthed
Short film Completed 2012
Director
Jolynn Minnaar
Doc Society helped with
Impact
Runtime: 93 minutes
Follow the film
A young South African woman swallows her optimism on fracking in her impoverished Karoo home district after a mysterious phone call from the US leads her to uncover the hidden truths of the shale gas industry.
Long Synopsis
A young South African journalist, Jolynn Minnaar, stumbles across fracking when companies announce plans to drill in the Karoo, a poor, rural semi-arid area where her parents still farm. Here, many worry about threats to the scarce water supplies but Jolynn is reassured by Shell that fracking has never been linked to contamination. She remains optimistic about what gas drilling could do to alleviate poverty and ease the energy crisis. When about to abandon her sideline investigation, she receives a phone call from Pennsylvania: a young man reveals that Shell has been drilling on a neighboring farm and has left their property contaminated. Jolynn grabs her camera and leaves for the United States, the home of the new fracking technology, in search of answers. Upon arriving, her lead is nowhere to be found: his home is abandoned and industry trucks are parked all over his property.
Desperate for answers, she continues tracing the gas industry through North America. She finds communities suffering with contaminated water and air, workers with chemical exposure and turncoat scientists presenting damning evidence contrary to the promised made by glitzy oil and gas commercials. Her devastating discovery is learning that her lead is lost along with countless impacted families who have become invisible statistics after being forced into gag orders - a tactic which allows the industry to keep its record clean. Bearing the weight of her findings, Jolynn returns home. With her government and many others about to authorize gas drilling, she is far from the happy-go-lucky girl from before. Desperate to set the record straight, she sits down and tells her story.
Outreach Work Supported
Solar-powered roadshow, website resources and printed educational booklet.
Crew
Jolynn Minnaar
Director
Jolynn Minnaar is a young South African director making waves with her debut feature documentary, Unearthed, that investigates whether or not South Africa should pursue fracking in the semi-arid area known as the Karoo - the area where she grew up. Dubbed the ‘next generation Erin Brokovich’, Jolynn regularly shares her firsthand knowledge across print, radio and television platforms while she visits the isolated, rural Karoo communities to inform them about the plans for shale gas extraction beneath their feet.
Her work on Unearthed has helped establish alliances between grassroots organisations from all corners of the globe and has allowed an accessible platform for conversation on the pressing issues of our time. She graduated with a distinction from UCT with a BA Film, Media and Screen Production. She followed this with a specialisation in cinematography and editing at AFDA. Committed to stories that matter, Jolynn works in the South African film industry as a director, cinematographer and photographer.
Company Bio
Producer - Dylan Voogt is one of South Africa’s most sought after producers and a co-owner of Stage 5 Films. His passion lies in nurturing the best possible creative work from young talents and to make artistic, enduring and quality films for both local and international distribution.
Producer - Stacey Keppler is a co-owner of Zootee Studios a vibrant, professional Cape Town camera and studio rentals company that serves the local film and television industry. The company has recently transitioned to solar energy making it one of the first grid-tie solar projects in the country and one of very few solar-powered film studios in the world.
Producer - Saskia Schiel has worked for five years in production on numerous local and international Feature Films, Documentaries, TV Series and Commercials and is a co-owner of Stage 5 Films. She earns her producing credit on a feature documentary “Unearthed” and feature film “Hollywood in my Huis" in 2014.
