The Wal-Mart Movie's Big Impact in Europe

I just returned from an amazing whirlwind trip to New York, Berlin and the UK. I was in New York for the Court TV launch of the ACLU Freedom Files. The Freedom Files and The Sierra Club Chronicles are Brave New Films' two new television series. I'm truly excited about both of these projects which you can watch on LINK TV satellite (DirecTV 375 and Dish 9410) or download online.

The goal of the trip was to make sure that Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price is sold all over the world- and it is working.

From Berlin to London to Scotland and then to Ireland, the film screened to sold-out theaters. On top of this we had enormous press interest from print, radio and television from every country we screened in. It was really quite something.

The tour began with four days at the Berlin Film Festival. With so many other high profile films and celebrities I assumed we would be pretty far down the attention poll. Yet, from the first screening on Saturday - despite my jetlagged slightly incoherent state - I was alert enough to see a full house and people filled with questions, concerns, and wanting to know more. The most fascinating aspect of the Berlinale screenings was the tone and depth of the questions which followed the film. Audiences immediately focused on the issues of corporations, globalization, and the nature of capitalism itself. The awareness of these issues and Wal-Mart's connection to them was beyond my expectations.

People were moved and stunned by the stories and information in the film. As I described the alternative distribution and the grassroots groups that work to get the film out into the hands of organizers, I could practically feel the light bulbs going off in the minds of the audience.

Then, within one day of doing press and screenings in London, we already had controversy going; I was arguing about the film on two different BBC shows and we got two full pages in the Evening Standard that could've been written by my mother.

In Scotland, we had another sold-out house. To my utter amazement not one single person left the theater after the screening and before the Q&A. In Ireland, we screened the film during the second day of the Dublin Film Festival which was terrific and very exciting. I got off the plane and was immediately rushed to several hours of nonstop interviews and then on to the theater where once more a question and answer session was vigorous, and quite intense. They have no Wal-Marts in Ireland as of yet and they see the film as a warning shot.

As I stumbled towards the airplane on Sunday, I had lost count of the number and variety of interviews I had done. But, I knew we all had helped the cause significantly by bringing this film to life. It is going to be used by people all around the world to build alliances, tell the story, and act as an organizing tool or as a warning. My deepest thanks to everyone who has seen, screened or spread the word about the Wal-Mart documentary.