Film directed by Justin Pemberton holds North American premiere Sunday at DOC NYC Distributor Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to the documentary adaptation of Thomas Piketty's international bestseller Capital in the Twenty-First Century. The film directed by Justin Pemberton will make its North American debut on Sunday at DOC NYC. Kino Lorber plans a theatrical release in April 2020. Piketty's book, an economic analysis of income and wealth inequality, became a surprise publishing sensation in 2013-2014, selling 2.5 million copies worldwide. Pemberton's adaptation "took our breath away at first sight,” Kino Lorber CEO and President Richard Lorber said in a statement. “Like a rollercoaster ride for the mind, it’s an engrossing amalgam of movie clips and commentary that elucidates Piketty’s brilliant analysis of socio-economic injustice. Who would have thought that the world's leading economists could deliver a visionary message as cinematically engaging entertainment?" This captivating documentary is an eye-opening journey through wealth and power. I was present as the documentary project was announced in May 2016, at an event at the Cannes Film Festival. The book (parts of which I've read; I can't claim to have conquered the whole thing) is dense with data and graphs, but in Cannes Piketty told me he thought it could be successfully translated into cinema. "My book is very visual in a way," he observed. "There are lots of pictures you could use to illustrate what I'm talking about. I think it could work very well." The finished film confirms that view, in the opinion of Kino Lorber. "Traveling through time by way of dozens of classic and contemporary movie clips," the company said in a statement, "the film assembles accessible pop-culture references coupled with interviews of some of the world’s most influential experts [including] Thomas Piketty, Joseph Stiglitz, Ian Bremmer, Rana Foroohar, and Francis Fukuyama, delivering an insightful and empowering journey through the past and into our future." Related: |
AuthorMatthew Carey is a documentary filmmaker and journalist. His work has appeared on Deadline.com, CNN, CNN.com, TheWrap.com, NBCNews.com and in Documentary magazine. |