What Are We Doing Here?

What Are We Doing Here?

How to view: Free on Vimeo

Director/Producer: Brandon, Nicholas, Daniel and Tim Klein
Produced 2012 | Country: USA
Run Time: 1hr25min | Language: English

Synopsis: WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE? explores why the charity given to Africa over the last five decades has been largely ineffective and often harmful. The film tells the story of Brandon, Nicholas, Daniel and Tim Klein who travel across Africa in an attempt to understand one of the great problems of our time; the failure to end poverty.

In the film, the Klein family travel 15,000 miles via public transportation from Cairo to Cape Town. They cross war torn and famine-ridden regions where aid workers, politicians, and inspiring individuals tell about the incredibly complex and often misunderstood issues that affect hundreds of millions of people across the continent.

Daring to ask the questions no one else will, the filmmakers invite the world to rethink the fight against poverty in Africa.  Could our good intentions be causing more harm than good?  Have humanitarian interventions prolonged suffering? Who is actually benefiting from our good intentions? These questions and many more are addressed for the first time ever in this groundbreaking feature length film.  If you ever wanted to know what happened to the $10 dollars you donated to charity last year, look no further.  This film will change the way you look at charity in Africa forever.

Recommendation: I watched the first 20 minutes, and the film looks like a great learning opportunity.

I Eat Therefore I Am

Viewers: Brittany Collins and Brian Rawson

Stream for free: http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/festival/play/6243/I-Eat-Therefore-I-Am

About:

Director: Vincent Bruno | Producer: Alexandra Pons

Produced: 2010 | Country: Belgium

Run time: 28:10 | Language: French (English subtitles)

Synopsis: Of the 870 million people who suffer daily from hunger, 75 percent are farmers.  "I Eat Therefore I Am" sheds light on many of the problems surrounding agriculture around the world, and questions the ineffectiveness of the system to assure the food sovereignty of all people--especially those who are cultivating food for the rest of the population.

Opinion:

• Well-organized around thesis (Who will feed the world?)
• Subtitles distracting at times
• Does not really align with GROW
• In a post-2008 food crisis economy, the film's framing seems more 2005-ish
• Animated segments do a good job of making certain topics more digestible 

• Focuses on liberalized foreign trade
• Discusses problem of selling food for the lowest price to remain competitive-- could be confusing when we talk about rising food prices
• Proposed solutions include food sovereignty, imposing tariffs, opting out of the system (not solutions proposed by GROW)
• Does not address plural focus of GROW or the current myriad of problems

Recommendation: 

• Use for background context only
• Good for showing for:
• People looking for background context
• Not appropriate for first exposure to GROW campaign