Encirclement – Neo-liberalism ensnares democracy

Neo-liberalism’s one-size-fits-all dogmas are well known: deregulation, reducing the role of the State, privatization, limiting inflation rather than unemployment, etc. In other words, depoliticizing the economy and putting it into the hands of the financial class. And these dogmas are gradually settling into our consciousness because they’re being broadcast across a vast and pervasive network of propaganda.

In fact, beginning with the founding in 1947 of the Mont Pèlerin Society, neo-liberal think tanks financed by multinational companies and big money have propagated neo-liberal ideas in universities, in the media, and in governments.

This ideology, convinced of its historical and scientific validity – as proven, in particular, by the fall of the Soviet Union – has intoxicated all governments, left and right alike. In fact, since the end of the Cold War, the rate of neo-liberal reforms has increased dramatically. Often imposed with force, either through the structural adjustment plans of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, under the pressure of financial markets and multinationals, or even by outright war, the neo-liberal doctrine has now reached every corner of the planet.

But behind the ideological smokescreen, behind the neat concepts of natural order and the harmony of interests in a free market, beyond the panacea of the "invisible hand," what is really going on?

For more info visit: www.encirclement.info

That film gives the word, to important thinkers of our time. A 160-minute documentary in French and English. 

DVD
You can buy the dvd here:
Artfilm
www.artfilm.ch/encerclement.php

Festivals & Prices

"L'encerclement" has participated in more than 20 festivales. Amongts them:

Berlinale (Berlin, Germany) - 2009
(International Forum of New Cinema section)

Visions du réel (Nyon, Switzerland) - 2009
GRAND PRIZE LA POSTE SUISSE OF THE INTENATIONAL JURY VISIONS DU RÉEL 2009-09-09

IndieLisboa (Lisbon, Portugal) - 2009
AUDIENCE AWARD BEST FEATURE FILM 2009 & SPECIAL JURY MENTION AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AWARD INDIELISBOA 2009

Hot Docs (Toronto, Canada) -  2009

Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival (Yamagata, Japan) - 2009
THE GRAND PRIZE YIDFF 2009 - THE ROBERT AND FRANCES FLAHERTY PRIZE 

Viennale (Vienna, Austria) - 2009



Andoliado Producciones manages the International Rights of the film (except Canada)
For adquisitions, comercial or non-comercial distribution and festivals in Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium and The Netherlands please contact directly with us (info@andoliado.com).

*For adquisitions, comercial or non-comercial distribution and festivals in any other country please contact our  Sales Agent :
Cinema Esperança International
www.cinemalumiere.com/
(sales@cinemalumiere.com)

** For Dvd and Theaters in France please contact:
Les Films du Paradoxe
www.filmsduparadoxe.com



Director's Statement (excerpt) :

" I deliberately set out to develop a filmic thesis that was overtly unique, in both form and content. Also, my film proceeds from several aesthetic biases. For example, it was shot in 16mm black-and-white film at a time when people advocate only digital video. Why? Simply because I find it beautiful. And because black-and-white seems to impart a kind of timelessness to the film. And finally, I prefer to confine myself to the film discipline that demands more conciseness and precision, since its cost requires shooting less and ensuring that the essential is said in 11 minutes (the duration of a reel).

On the other hand, the idea of using voiceover put me off. I decided to use intertitles instead. These allow me to structure the film, provide supplementary explanations not mentioned by the interviewees, take a stand personally and open the door to a second, more emotional level of meaning through music. Music that, while rich and audacious, doesn't hinder the reading of the texts.

Finally, I decided not to identify my subjects during the film, as is usually done in television. People have reproached me for this, but I held firm because this relative anonymity focuses the viewer's attention on the messages, not the messengers.

Since I got the initial idea, it has taken me almost twelve years to finish this film. True, I'm a rather scattered person, a polymath who likes to get involved in all kinds of causes. But I also like to take time to evolve with a project in order to deepen it. The fantastic thing is that now, twelve years later, the relevance of Encirclement is more burning than ever. The current world economic crisis is the direct result of the neoliberal reforms fuelled by free-market ideology and laissez-faire practices. But unfortunately, I still don't believe the death knell has tolled. The present monetary and fiscal system inherited from Nixon is nowhere near being overhauled and as things stand I don't imagine the plethora of privatizations and deregulation that have taken place worldwide will be reversed. On the contrary, we keep privatizing profitable enterprises, nationalizing businesses that generate losses and calling for more free trade.

I hope my film will at least be able to contribute, however humbly, to a broader questioning of the foundations of this deleterious ideology, and to making it recede."

Production company

www.filmsdupasseur.com http://nbaillargeon.blogspot.com/
www.tni.org/george
www.hec.ca/profs/omar.aktouf.html