Philippe Diaz and Beth Portello
Philippe Diaz - Director of ‘The End of Poverty
Beth Portello - Producer of ‘The End of Poverty?’
Host: Basima Farhat
Previously Aired On: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - Listen to the Show!
ABOUT The Film
Global poverty did not just happen. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, the problem persists because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies — in other words, wealthy countries taking advantage of poor, developing countries.
Renowned actor and activist, Martin Sheen, narrates THE END OF POVERTY?, a feature-length documentary directed by award-winning director, Philippe Diaz, which explains how today’s financial crisis is a direct consequence of these unchallenged policies that have lasted centuries. Consider that 20% of the planet’s population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate. At this rate, tomaintain our lifestyle means more and more people will sink below the poverty line.
Filmed in the slums of Africa and the barrios of Latin America, THE END OF POVERTY? features expert insights from: Nobel prize winners in Economics, Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz; acclaimed authors Susan George, Eric Toussaint, John Perkins, Chalmers Johnson; university professors William Easterly and Michael Watts; government ministers such as Bolivia’s Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera and the leaders of social movements in Brazil, Venezuela, Kenya and Tanzania. It is produced by Cinema Libre Studio in collaboration with the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.
Can we really end poverty within our current economic system? Think again.
The film has been selected to over 25 international film festivals and will be released in US theatres starting November 13, 2009. Directed by Philippe Diaz, produced by Cinema Libre Studio with the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, 104mins, 2008, USA, documentary in English, Spanish, and French with English Subtitles.
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ABOUT Director Philippe Diaz
Born in Paris France, Philippe Diaz studied Philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris, and began his film career as a director in 1980. After directing and producing several shorts, commercials and corporate videos, Diaz moved fully into the producer’s role with his first feature, “Havre” by Juliet Berto (cult actor/director of the French New Wave). His second feature, “Rue Du Depart” by Tony Gatlif (“Gadjo Dilo”) starred Gérard Depardieu, winning several Grand Prize awards at major international festivals.
His third feature, “Mauvais Sang” by Leos Carax (the first film about AIDS) became an international hit, winning one of most important awards in France, the 1986 Louis Delluc award, and was also nominated for 3 Césars (the French scar) as well as winning major awards around the world. This was a movie known for defining a generation and launching the careers of Juliette Binoche and Julie Delpy.
Diaz added a distribution division to his company, Films Plain Chant, to specialize in films by “author/directors” such as “Bless Their Little Hearts” by Billy Woodberry and “Candy Mountain” by acclaimed American photographer Robert Frank (produced by Diaz featuring Kevin J. O’Connor and Tom Waits). His fourth production in 1989, “Pierre Et Djemila” by Gérard Blain (a political Romeo and Juliet), represented France in the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
Continuing to search for new talent and making films that appealed to global audiences, Diaz produced “The Bengali Night” (shot in English in India) which launched the career of director Nicholas Klotz and featured Hugh Grant in his first leading role along with John Hurt and Indian mega-star Shabana Azmi. This marked the beginning of Diaz’s collaboration with American studios, in particular Columbia Pictures, and the opening of his first US based production company in Los Angeles.
Soon after, New Line Cinema tapped Diaz to co-finance and produce “The Man Inside”, a political thriller directed by Bobby Roth with Jurgen Prochnow and Peter Coyote.
His collaboration with Canal+ extended into the takeover of the ailing AAA, which saw the young filmmaker installed as chairman and head of acquisition. This takeover fulfilled the need for another major independent distributor in France, which Diaz built by successfully acquiring and distributing dozens of films including “Paris Trout” and “My Own Private Idaho”.
After moving to Los Angeles in 1991, he has continued to produce films with budgets ranging from $200,000 and $15 million under his production shingle, Sceneries Entertainment. With “Heavy Metal 2000”, he was able to broaden his production knowledge with the animated production and his collaboration with Columbia/TriStar. His directorial debut was the documentary, “Nouvel Ordre Mondial (Quelque Part en Afrique)” shot in Sierra Leone which won the Grand Prix at the Festival of African film in Montreal and well as a Special Prize at the World Film Festival , Prague. He also continued his distribution activities by bringing foreign films into the U.S. with the support of the European majors he had collaborated with throughout the years.
In 2003, he created Cinema Libre Studio, with a consortium of partners to provide an alternative structure for intelligent, independent films to get developed, financed, produced and distributed.
“The Empire in Africa,” re-edited in 2006 for the U.S. market, won the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature at Slamdance 2006 and the Hollywood Discovery Award from the Hollywood Film Festival.
ABOUT Producer Beth Portello
Beth Portello is a co-founder of Cinema Libre Studio and has overseen marketing and business development of the independent studio known for distributing social issue films. This is her first producing credit for a feature length documentary. She also shepherded Diaz’ feature film “Now & Later” as producer.
In a previous life she was a marketer of branded footwear manufactured in third world countries and was known for consuming luxury goods. She is making amends.
After taking the “poverty tour” while making this film, she was inspired to start The Filmanthropy Project (www.filmanthropyproject.com) as a means to “give back directly to the people whose stories we take when making films.”
Currently the group has funded a micro-loan program for HIV+ members of a community
organization STAWI located in the Kibera slum in Kenya as well as an orphan’s feeding program.
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