Movie Premier: Inequality for All

Updates: (1) 7:45 pm 19Jan 2013;  (2)  3:41 am 20Jan 2013;  (3)  See later article.

Econintersect:  Occassional Global Economic Intersection contributor Robert Reich is the central figure in a documentary that had its premiere today (Saturday 19 January 2013) at the Sundance Film Festival at the Prospector Square Theatre, Park City.  At the heart of the film are two simple questions: what is a good society, and what role does the widening income gap play in the deterioration of our nation’s economic health?

The film was partially funded through Kickstarter by which 1,015 contributors donated $83,392 plus other investors in number and amount not revealed to Econintersect.  Click on the following to access the fund raising appeal video featuring Reich and film director Jacob Kornbluth:

From the Kickstarter page:

Reich explains the urgency of this issue: economic imbalances are now at a level that is almost historically unprecedented. Income inequality is rising in America and the resulting consequences are both real and significant. In fact, the two years of the widest economic inequality of the last century were 1928 and 2007 – the two years just before the greatest economic crashes of modern times.

With Reich, we explore the cause-and-effect dynamic of unequal wealth distribution and methodically portray how widening income inequality affects us all. Unequal societies are increasingly subject to booms and busts; crime rates go up and political polarization becomes more extreme as economic inequality widens. The social fabric of our nation begins to fray and pull apart. Even America’s wealthiest individuals would become more prosperous with a smaller share of a more equal, stable and growing economy. INEQUALITY FOR ALL makes the argument that it is clearly possible, if not necessary, for a healthy capitalist economy to simultaneously have low inequality and be vibrant, innovative, and wealthy as a whole.

The remaining showings at the Sundance Festival:

Sunday, January 20, 12:30 p.m.  – Redstone Cinema 1, Park City

Tuesday, January 22, 11:30 a.m.  – MARC, Park City

Friday, January 25, 9:45 p.m.  –  Broadway Centre Cinema 3,Salt Lake City

Saturday, January 26, Noon  – Yarrow Hotel Theatre, Park City

At the time this was written all performances were “Wait Listed”.

Here is what the Sundance Film Festival literature has to say about film director Jacob Kornbluth:

Award-winning director Jacob Kornbluth has premiered films at the Sundance Film Festival before with Haiku Tunnel (2001) and The Best Thief in the World, which was part of the Dramatic Competition in 2004. Kornbluth has been a fellow of the Sundance Directors Lab and the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and was also a finalist for the Sundance Institute/NHK International Filmmakers Award. He conceived a successful Web video series with Robert Reich for moveon.org and The Nation that was the genesis of his current feature, Inequality for All.

Here is what Kornbluth said in an interview with IndieWire:

“The key to our version of this story is tone. Reich is a comedian at heart, and we try to tell our story with a light touch. Our goal was to make a film that was surprisingly approachable and entertaining given what could be a dry and serious topic. Our story has no villains: we walk the difficult line of sounding the alarm bells to a genuine crisis while not pointing fingers. The underlying message to our film is that widening economic inequality really is an issue that affects us all – even the rich would do better with a smaller slice of a growing pie than a larger piece of a shrinking economy.”

Update 1, 7:45 pm 19Jan 2013:  The first review is hot off the “press” just after 7 pm EST from the Hollywood Reporter.  Reviewer Sherri Linden gives the film high marks:

Reich’s modulated outrage is that of someone who not only has worked within the system but who also still believes in it. Whether viewers will share his optimism is yet to be seen, but the compelling clarity of his argument makes the polished film, premiering at Sundance in the Documentary Competition, a shoo-in for small-screen distribution and a solid candidate for niche theatrical exposure.

Later on in the review:

At the heart of the film’s argument is the tax-records research of Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty, which draws striking parallels between 1928 and 2007, years in which peak income inequality served as prelude to disastrous financial crashes. To put a face on the great divide — 400 Americans possess more wealth than half the country’s population — Kornbluth (Haiku Tunnel) profiles a few middle-class families in their day-to-day struggles, as well as a venture capitalist, Nick Hanauer, who debunks the “job creator” myth and explains the fallacy of trickle-down theory.

Update 2, 3:42 am 20Jan 2013:  A second review has been published by The Salt Lake Tribune, written by Sean means:

If all college lecturers were as engaging and relatable as Robert Reich, the world would be filled with Rhodes scholars. The diminuitive Reich breaks down the causes of income inequality — why the super-rich make exponentially more money than the middle-class than at any time in American history — and why it’s a bad thing for the economy and democracy. Director Jacob Kornbluth provides lively charts and graphs to illuminate Reich’s points, and unearths personal stories from middle-class strivers and from Reich himself. Except for a few quibbles in the argument (most of them about false equivalencies between the left and right), Reich’s case that the middle class are the real “job creators” is sharply reasoned and long overdue. ***1/2 (three-and-a-half stars)

The full length documentary (88 minutes) is based on Robert Reich’s best selling book “Aftershock” about the economic fallout from the Great Financial Crisis (GFC).

Aftershock develops Reich’s thesis that  the real problem underlying the GFC lies in the increasing concentration of wealth in the hands of the richest Americans, while stagnant wages and rising costs have forced the middle class to go deeply into debt.

Click on the book image to read more at Amazon.com and to order.

John Lounsbury

Sources:

• Inequality for All.com

• Inequality for All (Kickstarter)

• Inequality for All (Sundance Film Festival)

• Meet the 2013 Sundance Filmmakers #36 : Jacob Kornbluth On Why ‘Inequality for All’ is ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ for the Economy (Indiewire)

• Inequality for All:  Sundance Review (Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 January 2013)

• Sundance review: “Inequality for All” (Sean Means, The Salt Lake Tribune, 19 January 2013)

Hat tip to Steve Keen.