Debt Videos - The Documentary Network

Debt Collector

Documentary.net staff — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 11:58:51 +0000

Ten years ago Shaun Smith was an enforcer for one of the biggest crime families in Liverpool and embroiled in a war against a rival drug gang. Shaun introduced urban terrorism to the British underworld. He sprayed up houses with machine guns, tortured people and used homemade napalm to firebomb his enemies. Today, after a spell of five years in prison for firearms offences, he is trying to transfer those skills to the legal economy by working as a debt collector in the northern English satellite town of Warrington.

Debtocracy – Financial Crisis in Greece

Documentary.net staff — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:57:28 +0000

A documentary about the debt crisis by greek filmmakers. They say "Debtocracy seeks the causes of the debt crisis and proposes solutions, hidden by the government and the dominant media." Do you agree/disagree with the filmmakers? Post your comment! Editor/Script: Katerina Kitidi, Aris Chatzistefanou http://www.debtocracy.gr/indexen.html

India – Microfinance, banking on debt

Documentary.net staff — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:11:49 +0000

Microfinance has long been seen as a way to lift the destitute out of poverty. But recently it has been hit by headlines about scores of Indian borrowers driven to suicide. Critics say the industry has grown too fast, with loose regulation creating multiple loans to overextended borrowers and allowing some unscrupulous players to thrive. A crackdown has now frozen microlending in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, India's most important microfinance market, with the central bank stepping in to try and stop microfinance institutions from going bankrupt. Yet supporters for microfinance argue that extending credit to the poor, mostly women, has fostered small businesses, helped promote gender equality, lifted incomes, and improved access to food and education for some of the world's most desperate citizens. What is the future of microcredit in India? Can it improve people's lives, or is it driving the poor into new cycles of unending debt?