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poor us
an animated history of poverty
(2012)

a submarine.nl production for bbc/arte

directed by ben lewis
edited by herbert hunger

humans have been trying to get rid of poverty for around 2500 years – without much success it might seem. the disparity between the rich and the poor is greater than ever. and yet at certain times in history, in certain parts of the world, poverty has been significantly reduced – in fin-de-siecle europe, in postwar america, and in asia, india and latin america in recent times.

can poverty be eradicated, as some now claim? spanning from pre-historic times to eighteenth century china, from industrial britain to colonial south africa, and combining animation, interviews with scholars and archive, this film looks at how we have done in the struggle against poverty over the millennia.

watch it