Give Us the Money

In the early 1990s, a group of people including pop stars Bono and Bob Geldof decided that something radical needed to happen to bring an end to poverty. They used smart PR and worldwide campaigns such as "Drop the Debt" and "Make Poverty History" to turn the fight against poverty into an appealing subject. interviews Bono, Geldof, Bill Gates, Gordon Brown, critical African economists and others. It analyzes the successes and failures of these global campaigns, and explores in detail the collective efforts of celebrities, leftist revolutionaries and conservative members of Congress. Made as part of the worldwide "Why Poverty?" campaign, this documentary poses the old question of how we can do good. The economist Dambisa Moyo criticizes the fact that thanks to Live Aid, the image of wretched African children has come to symbolize Africa. Bono and Geldof have also been accused of arrogance: why do they talk to the President of the United States and the Pope, but not to Africans themselves? Bono's "One" campaign has now set up offices in several African countries, and there have been many changes in both Western development aid policies and in Africa itself. "We are side players, not drivers," says Bono.