Piigs

English:

NARRATED BY WILLEM DAFOE

PIIGS is a documentary that challenges prevalent European budgetary policies and the austerity dogma. It does so by bringing in lesser-known facts and evidence that have the effect of ridiculing prevalent European monetary policies and dominant political certainties.

Did you know that the famous god-like Stability and Growth Pact with its 3% deficit limit and theories about critical government debt levels are based on purely invented figures and typing errors in Excel spreadsheet? However, austerity policies keep on dividing the continent into winners and loosers, creating great amount of suffering, particularly in so-called crisis countries. Consequently, the whole European project has become in doubt.

PIIGS is a Southern European take into austerity dogma and states with the voice of prestigious international economists, intellectuals and experts, that the origin of the European debt crisis is not the inadequacy of people in crisis countries but the very foundation of euro itself. Unfortunately people are not immune to bad decision making, and the documentary shows how austerity turns into practice in Rome, focusing on a survival story of a cooperative assisting disabled people.

The documentary features Noam Chomsky, Stephanie Kelton (Chief Economist for US Senate Budget Committee), Warren Mosler (post-Keynesian economist), Paul De Grauwe (Professor London School of Economics), Yanis Varoufakis (ex Greek Minister of Finance), Marshall Auerback (Research associate, Levy Economics Institute), Erri De Luca (Italian novelist) and Federico Rampini (Italian journalist) among others.

(http://www.bertafilm.com/catalogue/piigs/#.WkNgQrAiHIU)

Original title: Piigs

International title: Piigs

Country of production: Italy

Year of production: 2017

Duration: 1×52; 1×70

Language: English w/Italian

Subtitles: English, Italian

Director: Mirko Melchiorre, Adriano Cutraro, Federico Greco

Production company: Studio Zabalik

Trailer

PIIGS_teaser_ENG-HD