Wal-Mart's Worst Nightmare

I'm not sure what day it is, I'm not sure what time it is, and am not sure what country I am in. So when I looked out at a theater jampacked with bodies and others trying to get in I assumed it was a function of my jet lag. However I soon discovered I was wrong. The Wal-Mart film has had an amazing response in Berlin! Packed screenings, tons of people trying to get in, distributors buying the movie for territories around the world. And the most interesting of all has been the question-and-answer sessions after the screening with people staying, probing, and expressing real appreciation that we are using film as a tool to help explain and so they can better understand aspects of the United States of America. Wal-Mart's worst nightmare, home to roost!

At the various discussions after all the screenings and in press interviews the connecting of Wal-Mart to the issue of multi-national corporations is almost a given here at the Berlin Film Festival. What a difference a continent makes: in the United States it has been a struggle after screenings to connect the dots between Wal-Mart and the march of multi-nationals around the world. Here it is a fact and a given. The questions are focused around what is to be done.

The experience and the film and the amazing response here is a reminder, once again, of the power that film has to travel, convince and tell stories...