About - Why Poverty

Why Poverty? uses film to get people talking about poverty.

We commissioned eight documentaries from award-winning film makers and 30 shorts from new and emerging talents. The films are moving, subtle and thought-provoking stories, but they also tackle big issues and pose difficult questions.

The films were shown around the world in November 2012 on more than 70 national broadcasters. The documentaries are now all free to view online. We'll make them available on DVD and in languages other than English soon. We'll also be adding educational resources to help people use them as teaching tools.

Our agenda

We're not a campaigning organisation. We don't want money. We're not pushing for a single, specific solution to global poverty.

We do want people to think and ask questions. What is it like to live in poverty? How does it shape you? Why are people still hungry? Why does it matter? What can I do to change the situation?

Our aims

To produce narratives that inspire people to think and be part of the solution
To involve the best filmmakers in the creation of bold and provocative factual films
To bring together broadcasters worldwide and engage with a wide and diverse audience through multiple media platforms
To create a global outreach campaign, supplementing the broadcasts with extra teaching materials
To engage with decision-makers and influencers to find solutions for change

If you want to find out more about the issues or how you can get involved, there’s more information across the site about the questions raised in the films and links to in-depth resources and organisations working in these areas.

How to watch

You can watch all the films online now. Throughout Spring 2013, we'll be adding versions in different languages. We'll also make the films available on DVD.

Use our content

We want to get as many people as possible thinking and talking about poverty – so we want to share our content freely.

If you’d like to use our films on a website, at your school in a newsletter, or even arrange a screening – please help yourself. Broadly, our content is freely available for non-commercial use. Before using, please read our general terms and conditions. Before embedding, please read and agree to our terms and conditions for embedding. If you want to use our material for commercial reasons, please contact us.

Who’s behind Why Poverty?

The project is run by Steps, a non-profit organisation that combines documentaries, new media, old media and outreach to get millions of people talking about big issues. Steps ran a similar project, Why Democracy? in 2007 and Why Poverty? builds on that.

You can find details of the team on the contacts page. The project is led by Mette Hoffmann Meyer, Don Edkins, and Nick Fraser. You can find more information about them and the rest of the Steps Board.

Partners & Broadcasters

We work with a range of partners, from institutions whose support has made the project possible, to broadcasters, who don’t just show the films but use their expertise to reach and engage new audiences.

You can see the list of Why Poverty? broadcasters here.

You can see the partners who have given us such amazing support below.