The big sellout
A British train driver,
A Philippine mother,
A South African activist and
The citizens of a Bolivian city -
They have come to realise
What privatisation means
And they are already fighting against it -
A Philippine mother,
A South African activist and
The citizens of a Bolivian city -
They have come to realise
What privatisation means
And they are already fighting against it -
Privatisation - for Minda in Manila, Bongani in Soweto and Simon in Brighton, this is a more than abstract notion. It is the life-threatening reality they deal with every day. In this episodic documentary, Florian Opitz examines the consequences of privatization - often forced by institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund - on real individuals in various parts of the world. Minda, for instance, is struggling to find money for the dialysis her son needs twice a week because Philippine health care has been largely privatized and the poor don’t have access to it anymore.. Bongani and his team of "electro-guerillas" roam their South African township and illegally restore electricity to homes of people too poor to pay their bills to the to be privatized supplier. And Simon humorously relates his adventures as a train driver, first for British Rail, and then for countless other firms that come and go with a regularity that has long disappeared from the train schedule. The victory of the citizens of Cochabamba, Bolivia, against a mighty US corporation that tried to control the municipal water supply adds a note of hope to the film. The interwoven storylines are contrasted with interviews with "the other side," those responsible for the privatisations and with comments by Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz, who left the ranks of the doers to fight for the losers.
THE BIG SELLOUT is a spirited, feature-length documentary about privatisation - the economic tool that many claim to be the answer to our current global questions. Shot on four continents, director Florian Opitz depicts the ludicrous effects of privatization of water (Bolivia), electricity (South Africa), health care (Philippines), and maybe most astonishingly, British Rail (UK), breaking down an abstract phenomenon into a pugnacious portrait of very concrete human destinies.
Director Florian Opitz :
There is a lot of talk about globalisation and privatisation these days. Worldwide it has become an everyday issue not just in the media, but for all of us. Yet do we actually know what privatisation really means for us? For the communities we live in? For our children? What it feels like for people that are affected by it?
In recent years, a lot of films that dealt in one way or another with world-wide economic phenomenons like globalisation were produced. But mainly, the protagonists weren´t portrayed as active individuals, who are able to take their destinies in their own hands and change the reality they live in.
With THE BIG SELLOUT it is my aim to show what is behind the abstract phenomenon of privatising basic public services; what it means and what it feels like for the people affected.
Most people have no idea of the quiet takeover of the corporations, which has already started long ago. It is the ambition of this film to change that. This documentary wants to make the public aware of a development that can change all our lives. The strong stories of the protagonists only depict pars pro toto what can happen to all of us.
There is a lot of talk about globalisation and privatisation these days. Worldwide it has become an everyday issue not just in the media, but for all of us. Yet do we actually know what privatisation really means for us? For the communities we live in? For our children? What it feels like for people that are affected by it?
In recent years, a lot of films that dealt in one way or another with world-wide economic phenomenons like globalisation were produced. But mainly, the protagonists weren´t portrayed as active individuals, who are able to take their destinies in their own hands and change the reality they live in.
With THE BIG SELLOUT it is my aim to show what is behind the abstract phenomenon of privatising basic public services; what it means and what it feels like for the people affected.
Most people have no idea of the quiet takeover of the corporations, which has already started long ago. It is the ambition of this film to change that. This documentary wants to make the public aware of a development that can change all our lives. The strong stories of the protagonists only depict pars pro toto what can happen to all of us.
Jul 25th 2010