Film Synopsis: Poverty, Inc.

Can giving be wrong?

To solve a problem as complex as poverty, good intentions don’t suffice – but could some charities be making the problem worse? Investigating the darker side of generosity, this challenging documentary asks some of the most pressing questions facing international development and aid agencies the world over.

Shot over four years and drawing from over 200 interviews with aid donors and recipients from over 20 countries, Poverty, Inc. revisits decades of foreign aid and international development policies. It focuses on Haiti as epitomising the most egregious failures of the system – implying, at its most provocative, that some aid organisations stand to benefit from perpetuating the very poverty they aim to save people from.

In search of alternatives, the film spotlights promising initiatives and suggests a new way of thinking is urgently required.