Guest: Director Johan Grimonprez about BLUE ORCHIDS

BLUE ORCHIDS

Belgium 2017. Director: Johan Grimonprez. 48 mins. Digital. Original English language version.

Johan Grimonprez’s documentary is a double portrait of two experts who are at opposite poles of the same thing: the global arms trade. One of the two is Chris Hedges, a former war correspondent for the New York Times, the other Riccardo Privitera, who used to work for a now defunct arms manufacturer. Grimonprez already interviewed Hedges and Privitera for his film SHADOW WORLD, which is based on Andrew Feinstein’s book of the same name and deals with the realities of international arms trade. Through their reports, the two men provide different insights into the war industry, with the director gradually illuminating parallels, analogies and contrasts of positions by juxtaposing the men’s statements.