[ For the past few years you may have seen short clips by The Yes Men and hints of what was to come in the Lost Film Fest vj show. Finally the sequel to the first film will premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in January. Yay! The new film is full of loads of great culture jamming including the fake New York Times 'special edition' prank which Liz and I participated in, Dow chemical's Bhopal debacle, Halliburtons' Survivaball, The HUD scandal in New Orleans, Vivoleum and so much more. The film should be in theaters later this year. ~scotty ]
THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD (dir. Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, 2009) is a film for our times. Part screwball comedy about the Apocalypse, part call to arms, it follows two hapless hucksters as they find out how funny the unregulated free market can actually be... and then find the fix.
Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno are two guys who just can't take no for an answer. They have an unusual hobby: addressing big business conferences as the corporations they hate the most. Posing as representatives of Halliburton, Exxon, and other big baddies, they parody their corporate nemeses in ever more extreme ways. In quick succession they deploy an exploding golden skeleton, stinky human-flesh candles, and a giant six-foot orb meant for saving corporate CEOs from the fruits of their depredations. The speeches in which they present these inventions are as excruciatingly silly - and disturbing - as the inventions themselves.
But the truly disturbing thing in the picture is how the business people react. Trying to make sense of this, the two burrow deep into the twisted underworld of the free-market think tanks, finding unexpected (and raucous) comedy in the bowels of the mindset that's destroying our planet.
Those who watch documentaries in order to learn something won't be disappointed. As our heroes appear on the BBC before 300 million viewers, or before 1000 New Orleans contractors alongside Mayor Ray Nagin, the layers of lies that we're used to are unpeeled to reveal the raw heart of truth - a truth that gives hope as well as pause.
Hope explodes at the end of this film with a power that may take audiences straight out of the theater and into the streets. A word of warning to theater owners: make sure your seats are securely screwed down.
(Note: this film has one of the very few underwater ballet scenes you will ever see in a vérité documentary.)
For sales please contact
Cinetic Media
Email: Sales@cineticmedia.com
Tel: 212-204-7979
For press inquiries and speaker booking for Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno of THE YES MEN please contact Scott Beibin and Liz Cole from the Evil Twin Booking Agency and The Redefinery.
www.eviltwinbooking.com
Email: Info [at] eviltwinbooking.com
Tel: 215-473-0308
THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD
ARTE FRANCE / ARTICLE Z / RENEGADE PICTURES UK / BRITDOC / CHARNY-BACHRACH / PRESENT
WRITTEN, DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY
Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonnano
CO-DIRECTOR
Kurt Engfehr
PRODUCED BY
Doro Bachrach
Ruth Charny
Laura Nix
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Patrice Barrat
Alan Hayling
Jess Search
Juliette Timsit
SPECIAL APPEARANCE
Reggie Watts
EDITOR
April Merl
ANIMATION
Patrick Lichty
ORIGINAL MUSIC
Neel Murgai
Noisola
PUBLICITY
Scott Beibin
Liz Cole
3 Responses to “THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD premieres at SUNDANCE 2009”