For Peter life is simply an act of going through the motions. He keeps an ad on the fridge door as a futile reminder of an age-old ambition, practically forgotten. For Rachel, the loss of someone close continues to adumbrate her life.
They arrive at a poorly attended self help seminar, which promises to help them 'reclaim' their 'impact' on life. However, with the rediscovery of a long-lost childhood dream (and a bit of Curtis Mayfield to boot) they soon realize the true meaning of self-help.
This is award-winning short film was selected into the London Film Festival, Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, the Tampere Film Festival and the Manhattan Short Film Festival, among many others. It has also been selected as part of PBS' Image Union series and was broadcast on PBS Chicago across seven states.
In the eighteen years since Renewed World was started its four founders have been celebrated the globe over for making environmentalism the darling of Wall Street. Tomorrow their shareholders will pass an historic proposal that will combat the thriving black market factories in seven African nations with an incentivized package of corporate aid.
However, the conscience of one of the founders has caught up with him. His nights have been sleepless; his guilt reaches deep. For he knows Renewed World's actions have never been wholly altruistic. Surely, tomorrow is no different.
Tonight, these men will war.
So much of life is a series of moral compromises. To use Star Wars characters allegorically: what if the Emperor (Anthony) and Darth Vader (Teeb) were not up to an overtly dastardly deed, but to an accepted one, one that is legally valid the world over (with the backing of the WTO, World Bank and western governments) but morally questionable.
This film presents the idea that in the real world the true face of 'the Dark Side' lives in the cracks of legal precedents. It's our own face, essentially. And what exactly are we prepared to do about that at the moment our conscience calls?
