(Note: language in 7th paragraph may be offensive to some readers)
* Chevron seeks broad subpoena of lawyer's records
* Plaintiff's lawyer says film footage out of context
* Contentious case has run 17 years in Ecuador and U.S.
NEW YORK, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Raw film footage, including pressure tactics, cursing and braggadocio by an American lawyer leading oil pollution litigation against Chevron Corp in Ecuador, was shown in court on Thursday to buttress the company's assertions the lawyer orchestrated a fraud.
The outtakes, from the 2009 documentary "Crude," were subpoenaed by lawyers for U.S. oil giant Chevron, which faces potential damages of $27 billion in what has become an epic lawsuit stretching back 17 years.
Attorneys for New York lawyer Steven Donziger and the Ecuadoran plaintiffs deny allegations by Chevron that there was collusion and fraud to inflate the extent of Amazon rain forest pollution to win more money.
The main lawsuit, which Chevron says is without merit, was first brought in 1993 by farmers and residents. The case is expected to be decided next year by a judge in Lago Agrio, Ecuador.
In one of several film clips played in Manhattan federal court -- not included in the publicly released film by U.S. documentary filmmaker Joseph Berlinger -- Donziger tells colleagues of a plan "to take over the court with a massive protest."
"It's a huge effort, it costs money. Not that much actually, but a few thousand dollars to get everyone in for a day," Donziger says in the outtake played before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan.
"We want to send a message to the court that, 'don't fuck with us anymore. Not now and not later, and never.'"
The U.S. judge is considering motions by Donziger and Ecuadoran plaintiffs to quash a broad subpoena for Donziger to supply Chevron with his correspondence and communications in the case. The judge did not immediately rule on the motions.
"For all I know, both sides are facilitating corruption down there. I don't know. Beats me," Kaplan said at one point.
Donziger's lawyer, Bruce Kaplan, no relation to the judge, said Donziger was "a passionate guy using unfortunate language in certain cases" and that some of the time he was "mugging for the camera."
The film chronicles the oil production and legal fights in Ecuador's Amazon. Indigenous communities accused Texaco, bought by Chevron in 2001, of damaging their health and the rain forest by polluting rivers.
In a written statement on Thursday, Donziger said Chevron had taken his remarks in the discarded footage out of context to "distract attention from the mountain of evidence pointing to its responsibility for massive contamination."
Chevron's lawyer, Randy Mastro, said in court that the company believed it had uncovered "a racketeering enterprise" in its viewing of the film and the outtakes.
"This is a man who has corrupted this (Ecuador) court, a criminal," Mastro said. He said Donziger should be ordered to provide documents "here and wherever else he has documents and appear at his deposition."
The cases are Chevron Corporation et al, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 10-mc-00001 and No. 10-mc-00002. (Reporting by Grant McCool; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
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