The French Institute – Sofia and The Red House Centre for Culture and Debate present:

The Other Faces of Globalization

mini-festival of documentary movies and discussions united by the idea to show the effects of globalization and to answer the questions whether and how the human face of globalization could be discovered and how the effect of global injustice could be diminished.
The films are part of the selection under the heading “GlobalizationS” made by French TV journalist and film maker Patrice Barrat for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Island of Flowers, by Jorge Furtado, Brazil, 1989, 13’



Ilha das Flores opens like a child’s economics lesson: what is a tomato, what is a man, what is money? Jorge Furtado uses comical cartoons to define each new word. The film follows the journey of a tomato as it is planted, harvested, packaged, discarded and finally ends up on the Ilha das Flores garbage dump. Farce then turns to caustic satire. The director brings us a film that is half documentary, half politico-poetic essay in which he presents a simple and straightforward breakdown of the mechanisms of globalisation. It is funny, hard hitting and not to be missed.

Jorge Furtado was born in Porto Alegre in 1959. He studied medicine, psychology, art and journalism before working in television as a reporter, presenter, editor, scriptwriter and production manager. He has made dozens of television commercials and worked as a scriptwriter for Brazil’s biggest television channel Rede Globo. He has turned in recent years to making feature films such as Two Summers (2002) and My Uncle Killed a Guy (2005).

The Corporation, by Jennifer Abbot and Mark Achbar, USA, 2004, 135’



A hundred and fifty years ago, a company was simply an organised way of doing business. This film sets out to define what has become a global power by asking the question: what is an international corporation? From the origins of the “corporate” concept to the current reign of the powerful multinationals, the documentary looks at the rise of the new commercial order, its first blunders and its legal and moral responsibilities. The filmmakers present case studies and interview Nobel prize winners, corporate executives, academics, critics and thinkers: Noam Chomsky, Milton Friedman, Naomi Klein, Michael Moore and others.

Jennifer Abbott is a documentary filmmaker, cultural activist and editor. In addition to co-directing and editing The Corporation (2003), she has produced, directed and edited a number of documentaries on the food industry and interracial relations.

Mark Achbar has been making films and videos for almost 30 years on subjects such as the nuclear issue, poverty and media control. Achbar made his name with Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992), which he co-directed and co-produced with Peter Wintonick. The film was honoured with 22 international awards and distinctions.




Mondovino, by Jonathan Nossiter, USA, 2003, 135’



In vino veritas.

From the Brazilian jungle to the Brooklyn streets, from the Pyrenees to the aristocratic Florentine palazzi, one vision unites rich and poor, natives and immigrants alike: the magical transformation of grapes into wine. The winemaking industry has been torn for twenty years by a conflict between small wine producers and advocates of homogenised wines. Wine has been a symbol of Western civilisation for thousands of years. Yet it is now a pawn in a fight for its soul, a fight for power, money and glory. Globalisation really does get everywhere...



Son of a journalist, Jonathan Nossiter studied painting at the Beaux Arts in Paris and the San Francisco Art Institute and studied Ancient Greek at Dartmouth College. He trained and qualified as a sommelier in New York where he devised wine lists and trained staff for a variety of restaurants. Turned documentary, TV and feature film director, he spent one and a half years investigating the world of wine to make Mondovino.

A Decent Factory, by Thomas Balmes, France-Finland, 2004, 90’



Can companies make a profit and still be principled? The question becomes a critical one for Nokia when it outsources its production to China and cheap labour. The company’s ‘ethical management consultant’ visits the Chinese factory to inspect conditions at the plant with an eye on righting the wrongs of globalisation: corruption, flouted human rights, and substandard health and housing. But what is a decent factory? Although the multinationals have recently set about creating a new ethical image, social responsibility extended to sub-contractors remains one of the main challenges of globalisation.

Thomas Balmes was born in Paris in 1969. He studied at the Institut Superieur d’Etudes Cinematographiques (ISEC) before embarking on the production of documentaries. In 1992, he set up his own production company, TBC, to make his own films including one on James Ivory and another on Michelangelo Antonioni. Most of his documentaries concern the hegemony of the Western culture, religion and values.

Mondialisation, Violence or Dialog?, by Patrice Barrat, France-USA, 2002, 52’

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