CWC Global: Scenes of Extraction

Scenes of Extraction (2023) creates an archival constellation using the still and moving images of British Petroleum, documenting the expansive colonial network behind the British energy complex that spanned across Iran, but also reached other British oil operations in South East Asia. The film weaves through decades of archival documents to parse out the visual history of the “reflection seismography” method for oil exploration, which was heavily tested across the Iranian oil belt despite its destructive nature. This technical legacy is still heavily utilized in fracking and deep-sea mining enterprises globally and forms the backbone of the global energy complex. By reading the political economy of images in relation to the extraction of crude oil, Scenes of Extraction evokes the intertwined histories of imperial and colonial extractive industries, photography, and archival practice.

Filmmaker Sanaz Sohrabi will join moderator Mona Damluji (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a post-screening discussion of Scenes of Extraction.