Documentary gets to the heart of the global poverty crisis
THE END OF POVERTY? (Philippe Diaz, 2009)
Action Center to End World Hunger
6 River Terrace, Battery Park City
Wednesday, August 25, 7:00
Admission: $10 suggested donation with RSVP to events@actioncenter.org
212-537-0511
www.theendofpoverty.com
www.actioncenter.org
In THE END OF POVERTY? director Philippe Diaz speaks with Nobel Prize winners, economists, writers, politicians, researchers, and other experts, attempting to get at the heart of international poverty — particularly by tugging at the audience’s heartstrings. He intercuts shots of talking heads discussing slavery and colonialism, the World Bank, the free market, the International Monetary Fund, and government bailouts with portraits of men, women, and children living in squalor in Africa, Latin America, the United States, and elsewhere. He supplements the film with a barrage of statistics that, individually, are infuriating but, taken as a whole, get lost in a whirlwind of numbers. Adding to the overkill is Martin Sheen’s over-the-top narration, which piles on yet more information and outrage. But even as the film sometimes feels like a Sally Struthers save-the-children infomercial, its crucial message does manage to pull through and take root — the money is out there, but its incredibly lopsided distribution in a warped system is basically set up to keep the imbalance that has led to such a tragic situation. THE END OF POVERTY? is being screened August 25 at the Action Center to End World Hunger as part of the monthly Films for Change series, followed by a free wine and beer reception and a Q&A with Monisha Bajaj, assistant professor of international and translational studies at Columbia University Teachers College.