Genre/s:
Documentary
Release Date/s:
November 13, 2009 (N.Y.), November 25, 2009 (L.A.), expands to Seattle, Portland, Austin, Boston, San Francisco, Washington, Piladelphia & Atlanta (
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CAST & CREW:
Starring:
Martin Sheen (Narrator)
John Christensen
William Easterly
Susan George
Chalmers Johnson
Alvaro García Lineras
John Perkins
Amartya Sen
Joseph Stiglitz
Eric Toussaint
Directed By:
Philippe Diaz
Written By:
Philippe Diaz
Produced By:
Beth Portello, Robert Schalkenbach
PLOT:
Award-winning actor and activist, Martin Sheen, provides the narration for THE END OF POVERTY?, which connects the dots from colonialism to modern times in an indictment of the creation of the free market system, the system now blamed for the worst global recession in decades.
THE END OF POVERTY? is a daring, thought-provoking and very timely documentary by award-winning filmmaker, Philippe Diaz, revealing that poverty is not an accident. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, global poverty has reached new levels because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies -- in other words, wealthy countries exploiting the weaknesses of poor, developing countries such that today 20% of the planet's population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate.
“Most of the experts interviewed in the film had predicted the current economic crisis more than two years ago, when we started to film, explaining that a system based on a neoliberal policies and the fraudulent trickle-down theory can only collapse one day or another.” says filmmaker Diaz. “It is great that Michael Moore is attacking the bankers and the financial establishment in his new film, but the end of greed on Wall Street will not end poverty in the world. The problem is much deeper than that; it is centuries old. Our economic system since colonial times requires cheap labor and cheap resources from the global South to succeed and to finance our lifestyle in the North. Without changing that we will never alleviate poverty. “
Filmed in the slums of Africa to the barrios of Latin America, THE END OF POVERTY? explores how the true causes of poverty stem from actions taken during and since colonial times to perpetuate exploitation: first by forcing people from their land and their access to natural resources, then through unfair trade, debt repayment and unjust taxes on labor and consumption. This system was carefully built and maintained by free market policies, resource monopolies and structural adjustment programs by the World Bank, the IMF and other international financial institutions.
The documentary features: Nobel prize winners in economics Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz; expert authors Susan George (“Another World Is Possible If”), Eric Toussaint (“The World Bank: A Never Ending Coup d’Etat”), John Perkins (“Confessions of an Economic Hit Man”), Chalmers Johnson (“Nemesis: The Last Days of the America Republic”), Brookings Institute fellow and author, William Easterly (“White Man’s Burden”); government ministers such as Bolivia’s Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera, and leaders of social movements in Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Kenya and Tanzania.
The film was produced by Cinema Libre Studio, in association with the New York based non-profit, Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.
More information as well as trailer, clips and images for download are available at www.TheEndofPoverty.com with additional information to be found on Twitter and Facebook.
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Running Time:
104
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