 |
| BIOGRAPHY |
Mark Achbar
Working for almost 30 years on films, videos and books, Mark Achbar endeavors, through media, to challenge apathy around issues of nuclear lunacy, poverty, media control, East Timor, human rights, the religious right, U.S. hegemony and corporate power. Apart from his other highly acclaimed works, Achbar is best known for Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, which he co-directed and co-produced with Peter Wintonick. The film was honoured with 22 awards and distinctions, screened theatrically in 300 cities and aired on 30 national TV networks. The 2 hour-45 minute epic is the top-grossing feature documentary in Canadian history.
Jennifer Abbott
She is a documentary maker, cultural activist and editor with a particular interest in producing media that shifts perspectives on problematic social norms and practices. In addition to co-directing and editing The Corporation, she produced, directed and edited A Cow at My Table, a feature documentary about meat, culture and animals, which won 8 international awards. Abbott has also edited numerous documentaries, installations and performance works. |
|
| FESTIVAL - SCREENINGS |
Toronto International Film Festival, 2003
Calgary International Film Festival, 2003
IDFA, 2003
Vancouver International Film Festival, 2003
Montreal International Festival of New Cinema & New Media, 2003
Atlantic Film Festival, 2003
Sundance Film Festival, 2004
Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival – Images of the 21st Century, 2004
Singapore Film Festival, 2004
Hong Kong Film Festival, 2004
Jeonju Film Festival, Korea, 2004
International Istanbul Film Festival, 2004
Green International Film Festival, Taiwan, 2004 |
|
| AWARDS |
People’s Choice Award, Toronto International Film Festival, 2003
National Film Board Award for Best Canadian Documentary-Special Jury Mention, Calgary International Film Festival, 2003
Joris Ivens Special Jury Prize, IDFA, 2003
People’s Choice Award, Vancouver International Film Festival, 2003
Special Jury Mention, Montreal International Festival of New Cinema & New Media, 2003
Documentary Audience Award, Sundance Film Festival, 2004 |
|
| FILMOGRAPHY |
Mark Achbar
2003 Corporation (συν-σκηνοθεσία/co-direction)
1999 Two Brides and A Scalpel: Diary of A Lesbian Marriage
1992 Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (συν-σκηνοθεσία/co-direction)
Jennifer Abbott
2003 Corporation (συν-σκηνοθεσία/co-direction)
???? A Cow at My Table |
|
|
|
|
| COMPOSERS |
| Script: |
Joel Bakan, Based on the book by: Joel Bakan |
| Narrator: |
Mikela J. Mikael |
| Archival Research: |
Paula Sawadsky |
Sound Design
Music Supervisor: |
Velcrow Ripper |
| Original Music: |
Leonard J. Paul |
| Edited by: |
Jennifer Abbott |
| Executive Producer: |
Mark Achbar |
| Featuring among others: |
Jane Akre, Ray Anderson, Robert Keyes, Noam Chomsky,
Michael Moore, Carlton Brown, Edwin Black, J
oe Badaracco, Maude Barlow, Mark Barry, Elaine Bernard |
| Producers: |
Mark Achbar, Bart Simpson |
| Associated Producers: |
Joel Bakan, Dawn Brett |
| Co-producers: |
Cari Green, Nathan Neumer, Tom Shandel |
| Production: |
Big Picture Media Corporation |
| In association with: |
TV ONTARIO, Vision TV, Knowledge Network, Saskatchewan Communications Network,
ACCESS – The Education Station |
| With the participation of: |
The Canadian Television Fund, Telefilm Canada-Equity Investment Program,
CTF-Licence Fee Program, British Columbia Film,
The Canadian Independent Film & Video Fund, Rogers Documentary Fund,
Rogers Telefund, The Province of British Columbia Film Incentive BC |
| With the assistance of: |
The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit. |
|
|
| ABOUT THE FILM |
Mark Achbar about the film
My overriding objective in making The Corporation was to challenge conventional wisdom about the role of the corporation in society, to make the commonplace seem strange, to alienate viewers from the normalcy of the dominant culture allowing them to gain a critical distance on the corporations and the corporate culture that envelop us all. But I am interested in and, frankly, fascinated by the advocates of economic globalization and corporate dominance. Reform comes from within as well as without, which is why The Corporation also tries to expose the institutional constraints many good people working inside big corporations struggle with.
Jennifer Abbott about the film
I live on Galiano Island, a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean where I see crossbills and eagles daily and look across the Trincomalli Channel to Salt Spring and the San Juan Islands. It is here that The Corporation was edited, and where I developed a deep understanding of why the richness of the world is worth working hard for. The Corporation to me is many things, but it resonates most strongly as a gesture towards exposing the destructive nature of that institution. It is my hope that the film will contribute to change made possible by ever-growing awareness.
Since the late 18th century American legal decision that the business corporation organizational model is legally a person, it has become a dominant economic, political and social force around the globe. This film takes an in-depth psychological examination of the organization model through various case studies. What the study illustrates is that in its behaviour, this type of "person" typically acts like a dangerously destructive psychopath without conscience. Furthermore, we see the profound threat this psychopath has for our world and our future, but also what the people with courage, intelligence and determination can do to stop it. |
| CRITICS |
Excerpts from the critics
The next Bowling for Columbine. Globe and Mail
Cogent, entertaining, even rabble rousing indictment of perhaps the most influential institutional model of our era. Variety
Impeccably reasoned and rhetorically engaging. Toronto Star
If it leaves you unmoved, pass on calling the doctor: Go straight to the morgue, because you are already dead. Montreal Gazette |
|
|
|
