Speculation Nation from Sabine Gruffat on Vimeo.
16mm film and HD video
Bluray and DCP, stereo mix
TRT : 74 minutes
Brown/ Gruffat
2014
Directed/ Produced by:
Bill Brown and Sabine Gruffat
Cinematography:
Bill Brown and Sabine Gruffat
Sound Design:
Bill Brown and Sabine Gruffat
Voices:
Ivan Ramirez Barrios, Isabel Concheiro, Aron Elias Jones, Dennis Krijt, Juanjo Garcia Marin, Toni Rodriguez, Juan Antonio Parra, Doris Perez, Marta Afuera Pons
Soundtrack:
Stephen Vitiello
Thank you: Taylor Deupree
Sound Mastering:
Paul Geluso
Mastering Facilties:
Harvestworks Digital Media Center
Speculation Nation
The global financial crisis that began in 2007 battered Spain. Over a quarter of the population lost their jobs, and hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes. The constitutional guarantee for housing that has been a cornerstone of Spain following the death of Francisco Franco has been shaken by a combination of greedy real estate speculators, predatory banks, corrupt public officials, and a global financial catastrophe.
Bill Brown and Sabine Gruffat travel across Spain to document the consequences of the housing crisis. What they find are Spanish citizens, inspired by the politics of The 15M Movement and Occupy Wall Street, who are mobilizing, collectivizing, and fighting for their right for a decent place to live.
Along the way, the filmmakers visit young mothers and their families squatting in failed condo developments; intentional communities of mountain cave dwellers; protest campsites that have sprung up in front of bank branches; and empty apartment buildings transformed into experiments in Utopian living.
Speculation Nation examines the ideologies that separate housing from home, and real estate speculation from speculations about a better way to live.
Selected Screenings
2016:
Gateway Film Center, Documentary Film Week, Columbus, OH. April 4.
Northwest Film Forum, Seattle WA.July 31
Northwest Film Center, Portland OR.Aug 2
Bolinas Commons, Bolinas CA.Aug 4
Artists' Television Access, San Francisco CA.Aug 5
Los Angeles Filmforum, Los Angeles, CA.Aug 7
Screen &Audiovisual Research Unit, Goldsmiths College, London, UK.
September 22.
2015:
Union Docs, New York, NY.
Strange Beauty Film Festival, Speculation Nation (Featured Doc), Oct 22-24, 2015.
Architectuur Film Festival Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL, Oct 7-11, 2015.
Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Festival, Sept 30-Oct 7, 2015.
Union Docs, New York, NY. Nov 1, 2015.
Traverse City Film Festival, Traverse City, MI, July 31 and August 2nd, 2015.
Copenhagen International Documentary Festival (CPH:DOX)
Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival (Doc market)
Ann Arbor Film Festival, Ann Arbor, MI.
Wisconsin Film Festival, Madison, WI.
Wroclaw Film Foundation, Wroclaw, Poland.
Chicago Underground Film Festival, Chicago, IL.