The Forum (2019)
DOCUMENTARY | INTERNATIONAL | EXPOSé
WEDNESDAY 28 APRIL | 6:15PM
ACMI CINEMA 2
FEATURING A POST-FILM PANEL DISCUSSION
Australian Premiere
Director: Marcus Vetter
Country: Germany, Switzerland
Year: 2019
Duration: 118 minutes
Language: German, English, Spanish with English subtitles
Genre: Documentary
Screening Location: ACMI Cinema 2, Federation Square, Melbourne | Plan your visit to ACMI **Please enter through the Fed Square entrance
SYNOPSIS
“An unprecedented view of the event and a who’s who of world politics, economy and science.” - Vladan Petković, Cineuropa
Every year, leading figures from international politics, business and academia gather in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. For the forum’s 81-year-old founder Klaus Schwab, it’s all about improving the world through dialogue. But are you going to challenge the status quo if the important meetings behind closed doors are attended exclusively by establishment figures?
Director Marcus Vetter was the first filmmaker to be granted behind-the-scenes access. The impressive procession of princes, presidents and other guests—predominantly male and all fluent in English—confirms many of our preconceptions about this private initiative. But there are also the critical voices like Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, who observes that major companies use the WEF as a distracting sideshow to generate positive PR, while they continue business as usual. During an informal gathering, she goes up to her new arch enemy, President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.
And when 16-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg shows up, it starts looking like Schwab really is doing his best to drag the forum into a new era. Although the question remains whether this approach is benefitting the world, or still mainly the elites in the end.
Unclassified 15+
Festival Selection
PANEL DISCUSSION
Wendy Syfret is a Melbourne based writer, editor, and author of How to Think Like an Activist (Hardie Grant) and The Sunny Nihilist: How a Meaningless Life Can Make You Truly Happy (Profile). Formerly, she served as the Managing editor of VICE Asia. Before taking on that role she was the Head of Editorial for VICE Australia, Australian editor of pioneering fashion publication i-D, and associate editor at VICE.com.
Across her career she's overseen partnerships and programming efforts with cultural leaders including the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of New South Wales, National Gallery of Australia, the Museum of Old and New Art, the Wheeler Centre, The Emerging Writers Festival, NITV and SBS. Outside of writing she is committed to climate activism, in particular working within creative communities to drive fundraising efforts for environmental organisations.
https://twitter.com/WendyWends
Taylor Dee Hawkins
MD, Foundations for Tomorrow | Founder & Strategy Director, Future Frontiers Group
Taylor is a passionate entrepreneur with a focus on innovation, sustainability, and social impact.
Taylor is Managing Director of Foundations for Tomorrow, a non-profit driving the amplification of youth voices in the design of a more just, equitable, and sustainable Australian future. Taylor is also the Founder of Future Frontiers Group, a consultancy with the mission to support and grow for-purpose businesses. Both these initiatives work towards Taylor’s goal of closing the gap between the NFP and for-profit sectors to support meaningful and sustainable progress.
Taylor is also an experienced coach and facilitator, having designed and delivered leadership development programs for international organisations such as Ernst and Young, Google, and Adidas. Taylorwas also recognised in Smart Company’s 30 under 30, has been trained by former US-Vice President Al Gore as a Climate Reality Leader, sits on the board of directors for Global Shapers Community Australia, and co-leads the Next Generation Impact and Ethics pillar for the Davos Lab initiative.
Nelli Stevenson
Nelli Stevenson is Head of Communications at Greenpeace Australia Pacific. With over fifteen years’ experience working in media and communications, Nelli has contributed to the success of countless environmental advocacy campaigns; addressing complex issues such as climate and energy, ocean conservation, and illegal fishing. She also worked extensively as a photographer and documentary filmmaker before commencing her career in strategic environmental communications.
SOPHIE PARR (MODERATOR)
Sophie is a lawyer and producer based in Melbourne. She is currently the Impact Producer at the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival as well as an Operations Coordinator at RedR Australia. She has worked at a number of organisations including Amnesty International UK, UN Human Rights and the Refugee Advice and Casework Service. Sophie also has a background in film working as a freelance producer, assistant director and coordinator.
Sophie holds an International Politics & Sociology, and a Juris Doctor (Law) degree from the University of Melbourne.
Andrew Walter
Andrew Walter is Professor of International Relations in the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne. He has M.Phil. and D.Phil. degrees from Oxford University. His previous academic positions were at Oxford University and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has published widely on the political economy of international money and finance and their governance among and within countries. His most recent book is The Wealth Effect: How the Great Expectations of the Middle Class Have Changed the Politics of Banking Crises (Cambridge University Press, 2019, with Jeffrey Chwieroth), which won the XXVth Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research in 2020, awarded by the International Science Council, Paris. His current research projects include the politics of wealth and financialization, household wealth and climate policy, financialization and political populism, and the changing politics of foreign investment screening.