Shadow World

Directed by the Belgian artist/filmmaker Johan Grimonprez, this partial adaptation of Corruption Watch UK founder Andrew Feinstein’s book The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade unflinchingly examines the role that the arms industry has played in determining international political and economic policy, and at what price. Grimonprez is particularly attuned to the affinity between weapons trade and governmental corruption, and he uses a wealth of archival news footage and interviews to investigate the cozy, covert relationships between arms executives and dealers, politicians, and military and intelligence officials that comprise a vast web of influence, deception, and profiteering. A powerful polemic against the notion that a better-armed society is a safer one, Shadow World forwards a dark yet galvanizing image of a network of bad actors operating with impunity in the name of public safety and defense.