20130825: Documentary Review--The Fourth World

The Fourth World

1. Live action documentary film, 54 minutes, NR, 2011
2. IMDB: fewer than 5 votes.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 'no reviews yet', and 0% liked it from 2 audience ratings.  'Documentary award winner at 20+ film festivals.'
4. Producer, narrator, writer: Mark Volkers.
5. Filmed in 5 continents: North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa.
6. Per the film, the 'Fourth World' is the aggregate of human slum dwellers in the world.  In 2007, the number of people living in the Fourth World exceeded 1 billion for the first time.
7. The next decades are likely to see the largest human migration in history, from countryside to slums in cities.  Most of these people end up in sections of cities where tourists usually never see.
8. Per UN estimates, to maintain the squatter/non-squatter equilibrium, the world will need to build one home per second from here on out.
9. Case studies were done in slums in Nairobi, Kenya; Guatemala City, Guatemala; Dakar, Senegal; Manila, Philippines.
10. Common themes are: low incomes, rampant crime, poor nutrition, lack of education, sex trafficking of children, drug use.
11. Parsing garbage was also a common theme: whole families in the Philipines send several hours a day sifting through garbage for anything that they might sell for money.  That worked out to 7.5 cents (US) per hour,
12. Interviewed: Paul Collier, Oxford University, author of The Bottom Billion (2007); Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums (2006).
13. Four stars of five.  Gave it four of five stars on Rotten Tomatoes, and eight of ten stars on IMDB.

Cinematography: 10/10 Excellent.

Sound: 10/10 Well done.

Acting: N/A There is no acting here.

Screenplay: 8/10 Made its case fairly well, and moved along in its presentation.