Hot Docs 2009 Review: Shadow Billionaire, Forgetting Dad, Black Wave: The Legacy Of Exxon Valdez

Title: Shadow Billionaire
Director: Alexis Manya Spraic

A fascinating movie that plays like a scripted crime drama, Shadow Billionaire follows the death and life of DHL founder Larry Hillblom (he’s the “H” in DHL).

Hillblom (pictured, top left) amassed a billion-dollar fortune through his courier business and lived mainly on the island of Saipan. There, he could fly his hand-repaired planes without the interference of the FAA, and he could indulge other obsessions as well.

“He cut a wide swath through the South Pacific,” one friend remembers. The madams in the Philippines and other Micronesian islands also remember him well.

“He liked cherry girls,” a brothel manager recounts, adding that Hillblom paid highly for the privilege of sleeping with virgin women.

At the age of 52, Hillblom was unmarried, but living with a woman, and childless. On May 21, 1995, he took one of his planes out for a spin. Two friends joined him. It was the last time anyone saw them alive. 

The bodies of the pilot and a passenger were found days later, but Hillblom’s body never resurfaced. In his will, he left his entire estate to the University of California, San Francisco.

But once his picture made the rounds of the local papers, women came forward with children that looked a lot like Hillblom. One girl, just 14 years old, was eight months pregnant with what she claims was his child. By Saipan law, they were all entitled to part of his estate.

Lawyers from UCSF fought the allegations, as did the executors who stood to benefit. The film follows lawyers from all sides as they battle for their slice of Hillblom’s fortune.

Forgetting Dad
Director: Rick Minnich, Matt Sweetwood

A freak traffic accident robbed director Rick Minnich’s father of his memory – or did it? That’s the crux of this intensely personal film that benefits from a deep well of home videos, family photos, and private conversations recorded on film.

Richard Minnich developed total amnesia the week after a minor fender-bender. His wife, Loretta, was also in the car. She noticed the change was gradual at first and she recounts that she could still see glimpses of “the old Richard.”

Rick’s mother (no longer married to Richard) finds the same thing. A host of step- and half-siblings offer their own opinions as to what really happened – and what Richard was like before.

“We all want our dads to be a hero,” Rick narrates, but in his case, “the man who raised me no longer existed.”

In fact, Rick has his own problems remembering who his father was, glossing over beatings and the family’s frequent moves until he’s reminded of them by his twin sisters.

Richard (senior) is still restless. He’s now married for the third time and he and his wife moved far away from their large extended family in California.

Medical records and accident reports show nothing is physically wrong with his father’s brain, so why is he acting this way?

Rick and co-director Matt Sweetwood set out to find if Richard’s behaviour is because of the crash, or if his escape from his old life was coldly calculated.

Black Wave: The Legacy Of Exxon Valdez
Director: Robert Cornellier

Twenty years after one of the worst ecological disasters in North American history, filmmaker Robert Cornellier travels to Prince William Sound, Alaska to find out what happened to survivors of the Exxon Valdez spill.

The film begins with what counts as a success story. In February of 1989, the O’Toole family committed to life in Cordova, buying a fishing boat and a permit for $300,000 dollars. But the Exxon tanker ran aground in March, effectively shutting down their business.

Father Sam now works as a crew member on other boats, and mom Linden is a real estate agent. They came close to filing for bankruptcy yet they fared better than many other families in the town.

The herring industry collapsed, marriages dissolved and at least 13 people committed suicide, including the town’s mayor. His suicide note was published in the paper and it mentioned Exxon.

That doesn’t even begin to cover the long-standing ecological damage. Oil seeped into the ground, wreaking havoc on wildlife for decades. The crews hired to clean up after the spill also became ill, and the film alleges that they had no idea the solvents they were using could be just as dangerous as the spill.

Marine biologist Riki Ott (pictured above, in purple) lives in Cordova and has studied the effects for years. She’s spoken to workers with breathing problems and actually warned of a disaster before it even happened. But her goal in the film, and that of the town’s residents, is to force Exxon to pay up.

In 1994, a court found that Exxon (now ExxonMobil) owed the citizens of Prince William Sound $5 billion. The film follows the protracted legal battle while outlining the lives of those affected by the spill.

Hot Docs 2009 runs from April 30 – May 10. For more information or to purchase tickets visit www.hotdocs.ca.