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New Orleans Film Society

The Yes Men Fix The World

Originally screened October 10, 2009

USA/FRANCE 2009 87 min.

Director
Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno
Screenwriter
Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno
Producer
Doro Bachrach, Ruth Charny, Laura Nix
Cinematographer
Raul Barcelona
Editor
April Merl

Synopsis

The Yes Men are anti-corporate pranksters who create phony Web sites to get themselves invited to high-level corporate conferences and media events—where they give hilarious, Swiftian analyses that unmask global injustice and satirize human rights abuses. They are the 21st-century’s answer to Timothy Leary’s proselytizing for acid and Ken Kesey’s busload of hipsters. The big difference is that they care less about changing minds than changing policy. But announcing, as spokespeople for Dow Chemical, that they will at last take full financial responsibility for the victims of Bhopal, they create a media sensation that embarrasses the real powers that be. And, outfitted in their wacky “SurvivaBall” getups, the Yes Men address a room full of straight-laced suits who don’t think there’s anything funny about going to insane lengths to assure one’s personal safety in the event of any and all calamities. The Yes Men don’t exactly speak truth to power. But their hearts are in the right place—right next to their funny bones.