Sunday Screening – Plunder: The Crime of Our Time

Plunder: The Crime of Our Time is an intriguing primer on the reasons behind the economic disaster that has affected us all.

Opening with the conviction of Ponzi Scheme king Bernie Madoff and his famed conviction due to a $65 billion dollar pyramid scheme, investigative journalist and media analyst Danny Schecter uses intelligent humour and thorough investigative reporting to expose and explain how respected financial institutions became embroiled in a "fraud epidemic" of sub-prime mortgage lending and repackaging and reselling of dubious loans which are now subject to an FBI investigation.

Director and award-winning former CNN and ABC News producer, Danny Schechter also scrutinises the role of the major media outlets and the failure to expose the financial wrongdoings and asks to what extent the business journalists became too embedded in the culture they were covering.

With interviews with bankers, respected economists, insiders, top journalists, and even convicted white-collar criminal Sam Antar, who blows the whistle on intentionally dishonest practices, Plunder is a definitive look at how we came to be in this mess told through the mouths of some of those who helped create it.

Directed by Danny Schechter
60 mins