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Bulletproof Salesman
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Bulletproof Salesman
IDFA 2008

Bulletproof Salesman

Michael Tucker, Petra Epperlein
United States
2008
70 min
n.a.
Festival history
According to Fidelis Cloer, a German armoured car dealer, the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan is a perfect one. The way he sees it, war is first and foremost business, and the more dangerous the situation is for motorists, the better business is for him.
The principal part of consists of a diced-up interview with the protagonist, who liberally tosses around one-liners and statements which then appear onscreen as a sort of newspaper headline. The camera also follows Cloer on a sales trip to Baghdad, where he gets anxious when it appears that his car is being followed by the so-called Ali Babas, otherwise known as highway bandits. The Arabic-language bumper sticker that reads "Please, don't shoot" will cause many an eyebrow to frown: it might just be inviting trouble. At a test site in Bavaria, Cloer explains that the ultimate testing takes place in the war-torn area itself. "People have to die to test and improve the product. We live in the most dangerous times ever. And the worst case scenario will always happen." And Cloer rakes in the dough, profiting from "a climate of greedy people," as he calls it. His clients include world rulers who have the utmost confidence in the German manufacturer. The interviewee is about as devoid of morals as the interviewing room he's sitting in is of decoration.
Credits
World Sales
    Ro*co Films International
    Ro*co Films International
Screening copy
    Ro*co Films International
    Ro*co Films International