The Forum

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For the first time in the 50-year history of the World Economic Forum, an independent film team was able to shoot behind closed doors. As the world stands at a crossroads, they document the most powerful people on the planet taking decisions that will affect us all

Year

2019

Length

115 min

Director

Marcus Vetter

Synopsis

In times of rampant populism and growing mistrust of the elite, director Marcus Vetter accompanies the 81-year-old founder of the controversial World Economic Forum over a period of two years, as he works to achieve his mission: improve the state of the world.

Since 1971, Schwab has been bringing together leaders from international business, politics, science and civil society in the small Swiss mountain village of Davos – firmly convinced that the world’s problems can only be solved through dialogue.

The film accompanies Klaus Schwab over the course of two years, while the world seems to be falling apart: climate crisis, Brexit, Yellow Vest protests in France, the burning Amazon Rainforest and the trade war between the USA and China…

But not only are a new squad of populist leaders such as Brazil‘s President Jair Bolsonaro challenging the establishment—a new generation of rebellious youth, led by climate activist Greta Thunberg, are forcing their way into the public eye, too.

Marcus Vetter is one of the best-known and most renowned German documentary film directors. He has received numerous awards with films such as THE HEART OF JENIN and THE TUNNEL – including the German Film Prize and several Grimme Prizes. With THE FORUM he achieved a special coup: for the first time in the fifty-year history of the World Economic Forum, an independent film team was able to shoot behind the scenes of the massive event. In the best HOUSE OF CARDS manner, we are behind closed doors and see how diplomacy functions when the most powerful people in the world are amongst themselves.

Directed by
Marcus Vetter

Written by
Christian Beetz
Georg Tschurtschenthaler

Produced by
Christian Beetz

Producers
Georg Tschurtschenthaler
Caroline Schaper
Bettina Walter

Co-Producers
Karin Koch
Marcus Vetter

Executive Producers
Christopher Clements
Julie Goldman

Line Producers
Kathrin Isberner
Sereina Gabathuler

Director of Photography
Georg Zengerling

Additional Camera
Michele Gentile
Philipp Künzli
Marcus Vetter
Thomas Schneider
Robert Ralston
Dirk Heuer
Ron Katzenelson
Or Viner
Mikon Haaksmann
Nicolas Ortega Ward

Editors
Marcus Vetter
André Nier
Ana R. Fernandes
Michele Gentile

Additional Editing
Jann Anderegg

Sound
Marcus Vetter

Additional Sound
Dieter Meyer
Marco Teufen
Jonathan Schorr
Aljoscha Haupt
Melanie Westphal
Felix Schlag
Emanuel Malzew
Erez Levi
Thomas Funk

Music
Marcel Vaid
Jens Huerkamp
Christian Heschl

Production Managers
Anique Roelfsema
Karoline Hunder
Sophia Rubischung
Annette Burchard

Assistant Producer
Anne von Petersdorff

Accountant
Sandra Zentgraf
Dieter Neubrand

Title Design
Uli Streckenbach

Graphic Design
Robert Pohle
Uli Streckenbach
Jan Erlinghagen
Davide Legittimo

Postproduction Managers
Xavier Agudo
Guillermo J. Deisler
Sophia Rubischung

Postproduction Managers
Tobias Heinze
Joseph Wernicke

Picture Design
Patrick Lindenmaier

Re-Recording Mixer
Jörg Höhne

Sound Design
Karl Gerhardt
Oswald Schwander
Laura Matissek

Commissioning Editors
Gudrun Hanke-El Ghomri – SWR
Simone Reuter – SWR
Matthias Leybrand – BR
Esther Schapira – HR
Urs Augstburger, Belinda Sallin – SRF
Sven Wälti – National Coordination SRG SSR
Barbara Truyen – VPRO
Claudia Bucher – ARTE G.E.I.E
Axel Arnö – SVT
Tom Bleyard – VRT
Carina Bordewich – NRK
Anders Bruus – DR

In co-production with Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion, Filmperspektive, SWR, BR, HR, SRF, SRG SSR, VPRO. In association with ARTE, SVT, VRT, NRK, DR, Channel 8, Televisió de Catalunya, Against Gravity, Motto Pictures, EBU. Supported by MFG Baden-Würtemberg, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Bundesamt für Kultur (Switzerland), Zürcher Filmstiftung, Creative Europe – MEDIA Program of the European Union

Sales & distribution
The Forum
Trailer
  • „Just in diesem Moment überraschen uns die aus dem Theaterbereich stammenden jungen Regisseure Hans Block und Moritz Riesewieck mit einem erstaunlichen Dokumentarfilm, der seit Monaten Publikum und Kritik auf den wichtigsten Festivals der Welt elektrisiert. Völlig zu Recht: Es ist, als würden einem die Scheuklappen weggerissen, als sähe man das, was sich seit Jahren direkt vor unseren Augen abspielt, zum ersten Mal unverschleiert... eine fesselnde ,Doku noir' mit höchstem Anspruch...Dieser Film müsste an allen Schulen gezeigt werden.“
    Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
    17.05.2018

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