PROFIT started from the reflections of a group of "politically engaged" independent French TV producers at ARTE Television, who have been working together or separately for many years. They thought that it was about time to try another approach to documentaries and not continue the usual "constat" approach, or the micro-analysis of individual destiny and victims. They wanted to address the problems of this world in a more "head on" way. To show the system itself, with a "concept" at the beginning of the filming process. So after two years of discussion, the project "Your money or your life" came to life. I was one of 8 filmmakers commissioned to do a film on a subject of their choice, dealing though with the (economic) world of today. I chose "profit." PROFIT then aired twice on French TV and was sold in many countries.

The choice of the title is simple. It's the theme itself and it is explained in the film as what makes "the world go round." I choose to confront the beast directly. Part of the music is from Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ibrahim), other pieces are from my own research on location.

I thought it was important to find other people than the usual talking heads (and as far as I am concerned: empty heads, of so called experts who are giving lots and lots of time on television to defend the system.) There are well-respected scholars and researchers, who for some of them are at the top of their careers and have written milestone books, but I never see them on television or talk shows. (I never saw any "critical" economic or stock-exchange show in any country). And also, I needed their respectability so that my own message could be swallowed more easily.

Some people (most people) are already irritated when they just hear certain words, because they have been used to death ideologically. But words are just words. The concept and the reality behind these words are still important. The other protagonists are people close to me, people I met in the course of my research or simply on the street while shooting.

I can only recommend reading (or re-reading) Karl Marx's Capital - in a scientific way and not as if reading a "bible." It's all in there in a very non-dogmatic way. It's a scientific, historical, philosophical and ECONOMICAL system analysis of what has become known as "capitalism" for these last two hundred years (which, measured in terms of human experience, is nothing). May somebody protect us from the "Marxists," the politicians and most economists of today. I wish the latter would be more modest.

Not really. It's all in the film. How the "system" functions is clear. As soon as you can justify ANYTHING by the necessity of profit, EVERYTHING goes. The problem being that most people tend to see this as the ONLY system possible, so any resistance to it is pointless and "idealistic." Even though we have everyday actual proof that the system is not functioning (at least not for the majority). Profit explains Enron, Worldcom, war on Iraq, the Middle-East conflict, etc.

Haïti is just an example among many others and the one I know best. In fact, it's an example for most of the world. Haïti is also INSIDE the United States. The poverty in this country is unacceptable, compared to the wealth of the country. And still you have high illiteracy rates, a large percentage of people living below poverty level, the situation of urban Afro-Americans, the country's poor whites, etc.

What are you working on now?

I just finish writing a screenplay for HBO on the Rwandan Genocide and the role of the international community. To be produced soon. Continental Drift (from Russell Banks' novel) is in financing and casting, and I have another project with Russell Banks and Martin Scorcese on John Brown.

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