Films by Harald Schumann

Germany 2018, 52 min
by Arpad Bondy, Harald Schumann

In Europe the information technology of every state administration and its institutions – military, police, fiscal authorities etc. – is based on Microsoft programmes. This exposes us to a high technical and political security risk. Is our digital sovereignty at stake?Microsoft is generally considered the dinosaur of the digital age, lagging behind data giants Google, Facebook or Amazon. However, the US Corporation is more powerful today than ever before. The power of its monopoly is nowhere more apparent than in Europe: from Finland to Portugal, from Ireland to Greece, the information technology of every state administration and its institutions – military, police, fiscal authorities etc. – is based on Microsoft programmes. But since digital systems are constantly expanding and increasing in importance, countries are becoming more and more dependent on this single company. And increasingly vulnerable to the weak points inherent in Microsoft. The worldwide “WannaCry” cyber attack, for example, occurred as a result of security vulnerability at Microsoft. This dependence causes continually rising costs – around 50 billion euro in licensing fees every year – and prevents technical progress in state authorities. It systematically undermines European procurement and competition laws and leads inevitably to the company having an overwhelming political influence. And it exposes state IT systems along with citizens’ data to a high technical and political security risk. Is Europe’s digital sovereignty at stake?

Germany 2013, 58 min
by Arpad Bondy

Billions of euros were poured into European financial institutions to prevent them from failing. But where is this money really going? Who do the ailing banks owe? 50 billion euro to Greece, 70 billion to Ireland, 40 billion to Spain – one Euro state after another has found itself forced to prop up its banks by pumping in huge sums of money to cover the losses that the financial institutions themselves incurred from bad loans. But where are these billions of euro actually going? Who is benefiting? Award-winning business journalist Harald Schumann criss-crosses Europe asking this simple question and receives some intriguing answers. The rescued parties are not in the poorer Euro countries but predominantly in Germany and France. A large share of the money ends up with the creditors of the banks who want or have to be rescued. And although these investors have obviously invested very poorly, they are being protected against any losses at the expense of the general public. Why is this happening? Who is receiving the money? Harald Schumann succeeds in making this complicated topic understandable for everyone, while putting forward his own – both knowledgeable and courageous – opinion. Maybe the most passionate film ever made on the banking crisis.