Hell in Paradise takes its title from an expression used by Giorgio Santoriello, co-founder and director of the association Cova Contro, to describe oil extraction in Basilicata, Southern Italy. Basilicata's oil fields are the largest and most productive onshore extraction sites in Europe, supplying an estimated ten per cent of Italy's national oil and gas needs. Since 2013 Cova Contro has been addressing environmental crimes, opposing eco-mafia activity and corruption in public administration, and working to protect consumers and common goods.
Citizen scientists and local journalists have documented pollutants and hydrocarbons released into the air over three decades as well as groundwater contamination by heavy metals and hydrocarbons. Their visual data and imagery reveal the impact of oil and gas extraction in the region. The project, realised in close collaboration with Cova Contro, takes shape as a film and situates these efforts within broader struggles and the historical context of oil extractivism.
Alessandra Ferrini is an Italian-born, UK-based artist, researcher, and educator.
