Pouring Water on Troubled Oil

Name: Pouring Water on Troubled Oil
Director: Nariman Massoumi
Released: 2023
Duration: 26

13 PG

A poetic archival documentary following the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas on his journey through Iran in 1951 on an assignment to write a film script for the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.

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Awards

Carmarthen Bay Film Festival, UK (2024) – Winner: Best Short Documentary

BAFTSS Practice Research (2024) – Nominated: Screen Based Practice Research (Short)

13 PG

Short

International

SA Premiere

Director(s):

Nariman Massoumi

Country:

United Kingdom | Iran

Year:

2023

Duration:

26 min

Language(s):

English | Persian

RATING:

13 PG

Official Poster_PouringWaterOnTroubledOil Poster — Film Poster

Pouring Water on Troubled Oil is a poetic documentary chronicling Welsh poet Dylan Thomas’s 1951 journey to Iran. Commissioned by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company to script a film endorsing its oil operations in Abadan, Thomas instead discovers the unrest of a nation, as he witnesses the political tension, poverty and culture of exploitation steeped in the oil trade. With narration by Michael Sheen bringing Thomas’s words to life, and layered with archival imagery and immersive soundscapes, the film transforms spoken word into a lament for truth. Pouring Water on Troubled Oil reflects on the enduring legacies of colonialism and imperialism, contrasting Iranian lived experience with the propaganda promoted by the now-rebranded British Petroleum (BP). The film treads through the murky waters surrounding Britain’s exploits in Iran, revealing a country on the verge of revolution.