The people of the Niger Delta live in deplorable conditions while billions of dollars’ worth of oil from the region is pumped out to satisfy the rest of the world’s consumption. Sweet Crude masterfully presents what happens when this community demands control of its resources to remedy the lack of potable water, sanitation, healthcare, schools, and jobs. When the Nigerian government repays their non-violent resistance with violence, the people resort to militant means and form the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), kidnapping oil workers to draw international media attention to their plight. Unfortunately, the result has too often been sensationalistic headlines about terrorist groups rather than serious reporting on the human suffering. Filmmaker Sandy Cioffi felt the urgency to document life in the Delta—against the wishes of the Nigerian government—as it teeters on the brink of war and to provide first-hand accounts from a poverty-stricken people seeking better conditions.  SM