Big business on the big screen

Film reel
31 Jan 2011 16:23:55.603
PA 32/11

A season of thought-provoking films that explore the role social and ethical issues play in global business is coming to the big screen in Nottingham.

The Doing the Business season, which starts at the Broadway cinema on Wednesday February 2, has been programmed in conjunction with the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ICCSR) in the Nottingham University Business School.

Screening on consecutive Wednesdays at 5.45pm throughout February, each film will be introduced by an academic from the ICCSR, while a number of high-profile guest speakers have been lined up to lead post-film discussions.
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 Maggie Royston, Business Development and Centre Manager for the ICCSR said: “Doing the Business is now in its eighth year and a key part of our annual calendar of events. Its aim is to inform and inspire. We hope that the local community — members of the public, special interest groups and local business people — will join our students to discuss and debate the issues raised by each of the films.”

The season will kick off with David Fincher’s The Social Network, which recently won a clutch of Golden Globes and is nominated in eight Oscar categories, including best picture and best actor in a leading role. With a razor-sharp script by Aaron Sorkin, the film charts the meteoric rise — and acrimonious fall — of the founders of Facebook, the Harvard undergrads who developed their zeitgeist-altering phenomenon out of their college dorm rooms and ended up suing each other for millions.

The film, screening on Wednesday February 2, will be introduced by Dr Glen Whelan, Lecturer in Business Ethics, and will feature a post-film discussion led by John Naughton, Professor of the Public Understanding of Technology at the Open University, writer of the Observer’s ‘networker’ column, internet historian and author of the book A Brief History of the Future.

Also coming up during the month-long season will be:

• Made in Dagenham, which features an all-star cast led by Sally Hawkins and tells the story of women machinists at a Ford car plant in 1968 downing their tools in a protest against sexual discrimination. Screening on Wednesday February 9, the film will be introduced by Jeremy Moon, Professor of Corporate Social Responsibility and will be followed by a short talk and Q&A with Cheryl Pidgeon, regional secretary of the Midlands TUC. Cheryl is actively involved in the organisation’s programme for raising the quality of working life, campaigning for greater equality in society and within unions, boosting union organisation, strengthening global solidarity and increasing worker’s prospects through lifelong learning.

• The End of Poverty, screening on Wednesday February 16, examines why poverty exists when there is so much wealth in the world. Tackling issues from military conquest, slavery and colonisation to unfair debt, trade and tax policies, the award-winning filmmaker Philippe Diaz probes deep into the problems facing developing countries. The screening will be followed by a discussion led by John Christensen, a development economist and former economic adviser to the UK and Jersey Governments. John has spent many years researching tax havens and tax policy. He has also played a leading role in campaigning for tighter regulation and control of tax havens and offshore finance centres.

• Inside Job on Wednesday February 23 examines, with remarkable clarity, how American ineptitude and carelessness in the unchecked deregulation and speculation on Wall Street has corrupted the entire world economy. Dr Wendy Chapple, Associate Professor in Industrial Economics and Deputy Director of the ICCSR, will be joined for the film by Rory Sullivan, former Head of Responsible Investment at Insight Investment. Having worked in the financial sector for nine years, focusing in particular on the relationship between corporate governance and corporate responsibility, Rory is ideally placed to lead a post-film discussion on the issues it raises. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Leeds and strategic advisor to Ethix SRI Advisers. He is the author of Valuing Corporate Responsibility: How Investors Really Think About Corporate Responsibility Performance, due to be published in March this year.

Further details about the screenings for the Doing the Business film season are available online at www.broadway.org or by contacting the Broadway on Broad Street, Nottingham, on 0115 952 6611. Normal ticket prices apply.

— Ends —

Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham, described by The Times as “the nearest Britain has to a truly global university”, has award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the QS World University Rankings.

The University is committed to providing a truly international education for its 39,000 students, producing world-leading research and benefiting the communities around its campuses in the UK and Asia.

More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, with almost 60 per cent of all research defined as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. Research Fortnight analysis of RAE 2008 ranked the University 7th in the UK by research power.

The University’s vision is to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health.

Story credits

More information is available from Maggie Royston on +44 (0)115 846 7426, Maggie.royston@nottingham.ac.uk

Emma Thorne Emma Thorne - Media Relations Manager

Email: emma.thorne@nottingham.ac.uk Phone: +44 (0)115 951 5793 Location: University Park

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