Franny Armstrong

Click for full articleFranny Armstrong, the director of McLibel, is making a new genre-busting film called Crude.

She's teamed up with Six Degrees author Mark Lynas and Oscar-winning producer John Battsek.

Crude is about oil and a vision of the world in 40 years' time - with and without climate change.

Slated for previews in September 2007 and cinema release in November, Crude is big, ambitious and probing.

How did you get the idea for Crude?

In 2000 I went with Mark Lynas to Tuvalu and Alaska. They were saying then that the sea ice had melted 40%. Why is that not mainstream?

Then in 2002 my friend said she wanted to make a film about oil. I thought focusing on human stories would be the perfect way to make a film about oil and climate change.

What kind of film is Crude?

We have a good and bad scenario. In the good future we have World Equality Day when everyone in the planet is equal. Rather a lovely thought, isn't it?

"The picture of climate change tends to be about maps and weather. This film fills in the human picture." Franny Armstrong

How big do you want your film to be?

We want to go completely mainstream. It's not a classic documentary. It's not worthy, or slow.

"We're going to have a pop song written for the end credits. I think it will be the first documentary to have a single release." Franny Armstrong

What would you like to happen as a result of Crude?

It's about trying to stop our species wiping itself out.

People think we're at a crossroads and if we just 'cut this' and 'turn off that' it'll all be fine. But we're not at a crossroads. It's not a question of a little change of path - it's like turning a whole ship around.

"How are we going to support 6 billion people on this planet without oil?" Franny Armstrong

We're going to have to use our land to grow plants for food - not for cars, not for animals - if we want as many people to survive as possible.