The KZNSA Gallery in Durban is proud to screen the film Blue Burning, a documentary by Janet
Solomon and Viki van den Baarselaar-Smith on Friday, June 6, 2025, from 18h00 to
20h30.
The film is a response to the state’s intention to “maximise” utilisation of South African offshore petroleum potential.
Filmed between 2019 and 2024, Blue Burning chronicles the grassroots refusal of consent to offshore oil and gas development that has been called the largest environmental campaign in South Africa’s history.
Experimental in form, the documentary exposes the theatre of ‘mitigation’ and ‘public consultation’ in the state’s push for 30 new offshore oil and gas wells by 2030.
The film offers a haunting aesthetic of irreconcilable
worlds, peeling back a state economic development imaginary to reveal an
ancient, maritime heritage and remarkable ocean at the heart of ongoing social
resistance. This is the story of the growing social opposition to these plans,
uniting fisher and traditional healer collectives, coastal communities,
indigenous groups, scientists, environmental NGOs, academics, and the general
public in defence of the ocean commons and climate futures.
Expect a visually stunning, well-paced documentary with a magnificent musical score.
This film is in conversation with the exhibition currently at the KZNSA Gallery groundWork: 25 Years of Activism for Environmental Justice.
Event is Free. Please RSVP on whatsapp on 083 789 1067
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