Global poverty did not just happen. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, the problem persists because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies — in other words, wealthy countries taking advantage of poor.

Philippe Diaz’s The End of Poverty? is a daring and thought-provoking documentary that investigates the origins of poverty in the modern world and begins to suggest how we might fix a broken system. The film was selected for the Critics’ Week in Cannes in 2008. An inspiring work.