TPA Film, The Big Fix, May 4 at Library

On April 22, 2010 (ironically, on Earthday), the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig sank into the Gulf of Mexico, creating the worst oil spill in history and killing 11 workers.

Most people thought the crisis ended when the well was capped, but that’s when the real story began.

The Big Fix, which exposes the root causes of the oil spill and what really happened to the Gulf states, is Topanga Peace Alliance’s (TPA) First Friday Film offering at its new location, the Topanga Library, on May 4 at 8 p.m.

“We never intended to make this movie,” says Josh Tickell, the film’s director. “It was only after being dumbstruck by the level of destruction and the simultaneous lack of clear information conveyed to the public during the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill, that we picked up our cameras and attempted to document this massive man-made disaster.”

Until the oil well was capped on September 19, 2010, 205 million gallons of crude oil and more than 1.8 million gallons of chemical dispersant spread into the sea.

Tickell felt it was impossible to tell the story of the spill without also looking at the political and financial root causes of the spill that were swept under the rug. In doing so, the film uncovers the same playbook for corporate wrongdoing and government cover-up that is being used to dismiss the dangers of the tar sands, the coal strip mines, and the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Rebecca Harrell Tickell, the film’s producer and co-director, adds, “Our motivation for risking everything to make this film comes from our deep commitment to fundamentally shift how we as a species live on Earth.”

Both filmmakers will be at the screening to introduce the film and answer questions afterward. Longtime activists, their 2008 documentary, Fuel, won the Sundance Audience Award.

The Big Fix screens at 8 p.m. at the Topanga Library, 122 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., 90290 There will be a cheese/veggie potluck at 7:45. A $10 donation is requested, but no one is turned away for lack of funds. For further information, contact Julie Levine at (310) 455-9389.