Crude Economy: RISKS AND BENEFITS
Programme 6: Risks and Benefits
This programme deals with issues of finance and innovation, corporate leadership and morality. Although different in style, both films focus closely on their subjects in order to reveal capitalist competition as a great psychological theatre: Well-dressed men, sweat above their eyebrows, in tough discussions around a table.
Nicht Ohne Risiko (Nothing Ventured), Harun Farocki (Germany 2004 | 52:00 min)
Nothing Ventured documents the negotiations between a small, specialized enterprise in need for money and a venture capital investor. The latter wants to guarantee a high-profit rate for the risk he’s taking. The negotiations last two days and conclude unexpectedly.
The Anarchist Banker, Jan Peter Hammer (Germany 2010 | 30:00 min)
Adapted from a 1922 short story of the same title by Fernando Pessoa, The Anarchist Banker stages a TV talk show with a banker who advocates rational egoism in the economy. Pessoa’s original character is inspired by the life of Alves dos Reis, a shady financier who almost bankrupted the Portuguese state.