Arms for the Poor

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Experts explore how the arms industry in America persuades the U.S. Congress to encourage and expand the sale of high-tech weapons around the globe. The arms trade destabilizes entire regions of the world, impoverishing countries where “the poor cry out for food and doctors, not guns and generals.”

Released : 1997

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ARMS FOR THE POOR from Old Dog Documentaries on Vimeo.

Narrated by Richard Kiley.

In unveiling the murky world of U.S. weapons exports to developing countries, this documentary exposes the present-day influence of the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower cautioned about when he left office. “It is not about geopolitical strategy . . . it’s simply about greed and a hustle to the developing world,” says one Globe journalist.

Arms for the Poor goes beyond politics and economics to ask whether the arms trade might be killing America’s national soul. While the poor need housing, education, and health care, U.S. taxpayers support an already-immense military budget that is growing larger deal by deal. The film presents an international spectrum of experts, dignitaries, and activists (Oscar Arias, U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, and the Dalai Lama, among them) who maintain, along with one Nobel laureate, that “the poor are crying out for schools and doctors, not guns and generals.”

Awards

Cine Golden Eagle Award
Harry Chapin Media Award

Broadcasts

PBS

Screenings and Festivals

On Capitol Hill for members of Congress
Documentary film series sponsored by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
United Nations Film Festival
Vermont International Film Festival
Seven Islands International Film Festival; Amnesty International Film Festival (Seattle, WA)
Human Rights Film Festival (Wellington, Australia)
Monterey Bay Film Festival

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