CONTRIBUTE
POVERTY IS NOT AN ACCIDENT. IN A FOLLOW UP TO THE END OF POVERTY? WE CAN PRESENT THE SOLUTIONS...
TO END POVERTY! is a follow-up to the internationally acclaimed, feature-length documentary THE END OF POVERTY?
THE END OF POVERTY? helped to reframe the discussion around poverty by presenting the historical root causes of poverty, demonstrating that it is not an accident, it is man-made.
Which means it can be unmade.
TO END POVERTY! will present 10 groups of solutions that can end poverty in this lifetime.
When we traveled with the experts (listed below) for THE END OF POVERTY?, we asked them what types of real solutions would end poverty. Some might seem obvious: The guarantee of shelter, healthcare, education, food, and drinking water. While others would require the upending of our hyper-capitalistic society such as: a basic minimum income—regardless of employment—as a fundamental human right, which would not cost that much to implement.
TO END POVERTY! would be constructed from the conversations with these experts as well as new interviews with individuals and organizations spearheading new movements in the US and abroad . Together, they become Ten Solutions to End Poverty.
These Ten Solutions to End Poverty are both macro-economic solutions that would change the entire economic system that creates poverty and micro-solutions that the individual can undertake, such as "degrowth." With these solutions, we hope to inspire citizens around the globe to demand that their public officials, corporations, educational institutions and aid organizations work on addressing the root causes of poverty, not just the symptoms and to be motivated to MAKE CHANGE HAPPEN.
THE END OF POVERTY?, directed by Philippe Diaz, was executive produced with the support of the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation and Cinema Libre Studio, premiered during Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival, screened at the United Nations and has since screened at over 41 international film festivals. It was released theatrically in the US and France before being broadcast in multiple territories, released on DVD and then via digital platforms (http://www.hulu.com/watch/151119) [HYPERLINK to same]. It has been viewed by over ½ million people on YouTube alone.
Narrated by Martin Sheen, the film features: Nobel prize winners 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"), and Cliff Cobb, former president of the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, as well 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 has been embraced by activists and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide for its ‘direct talk’ about the role of debt, free trade, and neo-liberal policies and poverty. Groups including: Action Aid, Amnesty UK, ATTAC, CADTM, Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP), InterAction, Jubilee Debt Campaign, Make Poverty History, Share the World’s Resources (STWR), Tax Justice Network, Transnational Institute, and the UN Millennium Campaign have screened the film as part of their anti-poverty campaigns in the past years.
People have been talking about ending poverty since President Lyndon B. Johnson famously declared a war on poverty. The reason we haven’t made any headway is because we are treating the symptoms and not the causes.
With your help, this film will be the first to honestly address the root causes of poverty. Causes that were created and are perpetuated by the capitalistic world system that requires permanent growth and profit at all costs:
WHAT WE NEED
To complete the film we need to raise $150,000 by the end of 2015--the sooner we get this message out and the sooner we can help create change.
We’d like to complete this film by Spring 2016 and have it released broadly by Summer/Fall 2016.
Your contributions to this campaign will go towards:
- 30% for story development and production expenses including taping new interviews and travel expenses,
- 50% for Post Production including; editing, music licensing, archival footage, graphics, color correction and more.
- And 20% towards Film Festival preparation and development of a social engagement strategy.
RISKS & CHALLENGES
We sincerely hope to meet and even exceed our goal. If we do, any additional funds will go towards the US distribution of the film with Cinema Libre Studio and possibly other distribution partners.
However, with any film there are risks and unplanned "surprises." For a film to have the maximum amount of impact, it is beneficial to have a high profile international film festival release, a theatrical run in the US and a well-funded, multi-level social engagement campaign.
With your contributions, we will finish the film.
Cinema Libre Studio will guarantee some form of distribution for the finished film.
OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP
If you are unable to help monetarily at this moment, here are some other ways you can help:
1) Send a personalized email about this campaign to 50 of your friends, telling them why you feel this is an important project.
2) Like our
Facebook page and share it with your Facebook community.
3) Share our page with other social media networks on Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.
4) Organize a fundraising screening using THE END OF POVERTY? in your community before the end of this campaign – email us to work out the details. And you’ll be our SUPER CAMPAIGNERS!
Click here to learn how
5)
Sign up to get involved!
7) Other ideas for content, partnerships or support? Email Beth Portello bportello@cinemalibrestudio.com
