The End of Poverty? (2009)

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• Project Phase: Completed
• Release Date: 2009-11-13 - NY and/or LA
• Distributor(s): Cinema Libre
• Film Genre(s): Documentary
• Country: United States
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SYNOPSIS

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.

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.

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