This documentary following the satirical actions of The Yes Men, the American art group founded by Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno won the Audience Award at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival.
The Yes Men is an activist art group founded by Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno that works at the intersection of contemporary art, civil activism, and pranks. Their mission is to offer a critique of American politicians and corporations and raise awareness of the catastrophic results of their irresponsible policies. In one of their actions, the duo spoke to the BBC on behalf of Dow Chemicals, the company responsible for the Bhopal Disaster at a chemical plant in India that affected millions of people, and promised compensation for all of the victims. With its reputation at stake, the company was forced to help the victims of the disaster.
The group made The Yes Men Fix the World in collaboration with director and editor Kurt Engfehr, a filmmaker from a Detroit suburb who had previously collaborated with Michael Moore on his Oscar-winning Bowling For Columbine.
Largely a first-person film shot on a handheld camera, The Yes Men Fix the World looks like an artifact from a family archive. Offering insight into the usually hidden preparation of actions, it also follows the artists’ often risky media interventions and the shock effect their actions produce. Despite their humor and a tongue-in-cheek approach, The Yes Men touch on complex and sensitive subjects, such as ecological disasters, social and class inequality, and political hypocrisy. This is a fast-paced, dark comedy about socially engaged creators who unmask self-interested corporations and the establishment.
The film will be screened in English with Russian subtitles.
The Yes Men Fix the World
Directors Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, Kurt Engfehr
UK, USA, France, 2009, 87 min. 18+