The Green Lie

Die Grüne Lüge
Austrian director Werner Boote and German author Kathrin Hartmann apply the weapons of truth to the dishonesties of the ‘greenwashing’ enterprises by following the trail of corporate green lies to the sites of the most catastrophic environmental disasters: the tremendous impact of BP's oil pollution on Grand Isle caused by Deepwater Horizon, the extent of the rainforest fires ignited by palm oil corporations in Indonesia, and the consequences of cattle farming on indigenous peoples in Brazil. After attending the SEA – Sustainable Entrepreneurship Award in Vienna, a palm oil conference in Bali, and the RWE general assembly in Essen, Werner and Kathrin come to realize that industry’s so-called ‘green products’ have no relation to true sustainability, but instead destroy the environment and undermine the truly necessary steps that must be taken. They discuss the connections of ecology and economy and the mistakes of policies that shift the responsibility of fair and sustainable resource management onto consumers with renowned experts, including professor Noam Chomsky and the journalist and activist Raj Patel.
by Werner Boote
with Werner Boote, Kathrin Hartmann, Noam Chomsky, Raj Patel, Feri Irawan, Vincent Hannemann, Dean Blanchard, Scott A. Porter, Sônia Bone  de Sousa Silva Santos Guajajara, Estevinho Floriano Tiago
Austria 2018 German, English, Portuguese, Indonesian 97’ Colour Documentary form

With

  • Werner Boote
  • Kathrin Hartmann
  • Noam Chomsky
  • Raj Patel
  • Feri Irawan
  • Vincent Hannemann
  • Dean Blanchard
  • Scott A. Porter
  • Sônia Bone  de Sousa Silva Santos Guajajara
  • Estevinho Floriano Tiago

Crew

Written and Directed by Werner Boote
Cinematography Dominik Spritzendorfer, Mario Hötschl
Editing Gernot Grassl, Roland Buzzi
Music Marcus Nigsch
Sound Design Thomas Pötz, Andreas Hamza
Sound Atanas Tcholakov, Andreas Hamza
Assistant Director Myriam Loukili
Head of Production Florian Brandt
Line Producer Robert Sattler
Producers Markus Pauser, Erich Schindlecker
Creative Producer Elise Lein

Produced by

e&a film

Werner Boote

Born in Vienna, Austria in 1965, he studied at the Film Academy Vienna where his initial focus was music. There followed numerous music documentaries such as Der Gladiator. His first film for theatrical release, Plastic Planet, screened in over 80 countries. Exhorting a plastic free life, the film brought about social and legal changes and won him a Golden Romy. Population Boom in which he calls for a fairer distribution of wealth, won him the Green Me Award for Best Documentary. Following his feature-length documentary Alles unter Kontrolle, his new film The Green Lie will be released in cinemas.

Filmography

2009 Mythos Ring · Plastic Planet 2010 Was Sie immer schon über Österreich wissen wollten 2011 The Unexpected Visitors 9/11 2012 Musik in der Luft 2013 Population Boom 2014 Bombensicher · Geschichten vom Leben - An der Tankstelle 2015 Morgenland im Abendland · Alles unter Kontrolle 2018 The Green Lie

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2018