Why Poverty? Launches Global Dialogue on Poverty

ITVS and STEPS International to premiere 8 docs and 30 online shorts in 200 countries to address global inequality.

Why do one billion people still live in poverty worldwide, and what can be done to change it? That’s the complex question the Why Poverty? series hopes to answer. Presented by ITVS’s Global Perspectives Project in partnership with STEPS International, a Denmark based nonprofit, the Why Poverty? series is a global cross-media project aimed at raising awareness of poverty in America and around the world.

At the center of the  project are eight one-hour documentaries by award-winning filmmakers, co-produced by ITVS and STEPS, set to premiere through simultaneous broadcasts on five continents by more than 70 broadcasters during the month of November.  Incredible, inspiring, and thought-provoking, the films will generate awareness and highlight possible solutions to ending poverty. ITVS’s Global Perspectives Project will kick-start the global conversation with the PBS premieres of two Independent Lens films:  Solar Mamas  (November 5), and Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream (November 12).  

From November 26th - 29th,  six films will premiere as part of a special presentation of ITVS’s international documentary series, Global Voices, on the WORLD Channel and online on PBS.org. Funded by a consortium of broadcasters in over 200 countries, including BBC (England) and ARTE (Germany), Why Poverty? will distribute 30 shorts ranging from one to five minutes on the Why Poverty? site and on YouTube. The films will be accompanied by radio, internet, and live events designed to spark global and national debates and an online conversation to get people asking “Why Poverty?” This groundbreaking cross-media event will reach an unprecedented audience of more than 500 million people around.