Synopsis
Small weapons such as pistols and rifles are the real weapons of mass destruction: each year, they're used to kill some 500,000 people worldwide. Devil's Bargain exposes the deepest undercrofts of international trade in these weapons. Starting at an American weapon expo, director Shelley Saywell travels all over the world, from Somalia and South Africa to Bosnia and Moldavia, and from France back to the United States. We hear stories about how small weapons aren't destroyed after a war but rather channeled to other areas of conflict, how they're sometimes smuggled in the bodies of animals, and how they stand in the way of constructive economic development in third-world countries. Of course the West is responsible; as long as the United States continues to provide Africa with weapons, the hopelessly violent situation there will never change. Recently, the US even blocked a UN treaty that would have curbed the weapon trade. For her production company Bishari Film, Saywell makes socially committed documentaries, and Devil's Bargain is no exception. With talking heads, archive footage and material she shot herself, supplemented by rhetorical commentary on the soundtrack, she makes a passionate plea against the weapon trade, which has brought about a globalisation of death.
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