A Bill Moyers report
During the longest economic expansion in American history, many people had never had it so good. But for others, the boom only resulted in working longer hours at lower wages simply to keep up. This eye-opening program tells the story of the Neumanns and Stanleys, two working families in Milwaukee whose efforts to make ends meet in the new global economy reveal what life was like for millions of Americans during that period. Filmed over ten years, this intimate documentary captures their struggle to cope with economic upheaval and to keep their families intact with both parents working, children facing challenges in school and in the street, and family values being threatened by problems with no easy solutions. (2 parts, 67 minutes and 50 minutes)
Available from Films Media Group
Also available online on Vimeo
Category Archives: Global Economy
Surviving the Good Times (2000)
The Corporation (2003)
145m; U.S.
Director: Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott
Cast: Mikela J. Mikael, Rob Beckwermert and Christopher Gora
Synopsis (IMDB): Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in the its behaviour, this type of “person” typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also how the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it.
The Day My God Died (2003)
70m;
Director: Andrew Levine
Synopsis: Filmed in Nepal and India this documentary presents the stories of young girls whose lives have been shattered by the child sex slave trade. The film provides actual footage from inside the brothels of Bombay, known even to the tourists as “The Cages,” captured with “spy camera” technology. The documentary also introduces the heroes of the movement who are working to abolish child sex slavery and who remind us that, “these are our daughters.”
The Big Sell Out (2007)
94m; Germany
Director: Florian Optiz
Synopsis: This film exposes the role of the IMF and World Bank by showing the effect of their policies on the lives of working people from around the world. They include an UK RMT railroad activist fighting to protect the UK railroad system, a Bolivian community activists fighting water privatization and a South African activist fighting to keep the lights on in Soweto which leads to a fight against the ANC government. This international film draws the connection of the policies of global capitalism of privatization and deregulation to the destruction of public services and the ruination of the environment and the people of the world.
Contact: Florian Opitz is a freelance documentary filmmaker, author and journalist. He was born in Saarbrücken, Germany in 1973. Since 1998 he has been working as a freelance filmmaker and journalist for several European TV stations, including for ARD, ARTE and ZDF. His work includes numerous political and historical documentaries, such as the made-for-TV features Tibet – Myth and Reality (Tibet – Mythos und Wirklichkeit, 2001) and Arabs – History of a Perceived Enemy (Die Araber – Geschichte eines Feindbildes, 2003).
flopitz@spring-productions.de http://www.thebigsellout.org
The Bottom Line: Privatizing the World
Synopsis: Nothing today can escape commodification: water, health, genes, knowledge…Will all the global commons become a mere commodity to be sold to the highest bidder?
The Price of Sugar (2006)
90m; U.S.
Director: Bill Haney
Synopsis (IMDB): On the Caribbean island of the Dominican Republic, tourists flock to pristine beaches, with little knowledge that a few miles away thousands of dispossessed Haitians are under armed guard on plantations harvesting sugarcane, most of which ends up in US kitchens. Cutting cane by machete, they work 14 hour days, 7 days a week, frequently without access to decent housing, electricity, clean water, education, healthcare or adequate nutrition. The Price of Sugar follows a charismatic Spanish priest, Father Christopher Hartley, as he organizes some of this hemisphere’s poorest people, challenging the powerful interests profiting from their work. This film raises key questions about where the products we consume originate, at what human cost they are produced and ultimately, where our responsibility lies.
The Real Price Of Military Occupation
20m; U.S.
Director: U.S. Labor Against the War
Synopsis: The vast majority of union members are now solidly against the war, yet most do not know the full impact the wars and occupations, and more broadly the military budget, are having on our troops, social services, national security, the federal budget and national debt, as well as on Iraqis and Iraq.
Contact: US Labor Against The War (USLAW) info@uslaboragainstwar.org http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org
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