The rich have got richer. Where a CEO of a major British company used to earn 10 times the average wage of their workers, now they earn 200 times their wage. According to Oxfam, the richest 80 people in the world own as much as the poorest 3.5 billion. It would now take 300 years for the average cleaner, cleaning the offices of a senior boss, to earn the same salary taken home by the same boss last year.

Russell Brand takes his cause and cameras to the streets.

Brand quotes statistics, he sits in the homes of people struggling to get by, he interviews experts and tries to approach the bankers who earn so much and pay so little back in taxes.

He singles out several banks, Apple and Google, who maintain a statelessnes that frees them from taxes and makes them extremely poor corporate citizens.

Brand manages all his on-air time with, well, grace. He nicks a chip from a passerby, he hugs a man who claims friendship, he answers a youngster who keeps interrupting, and he bonds with police called in to roust him.

This is an altogether fascinating, enraging, amusing documentary that combines entertainment with information in the best possible way. Highly recommended.

by Ali Kayn Australian release 11 June 2015 For credits and official site details, see below Search Festivale for more work by the film-makers below. See also: Trailer

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Just the facts: Title: The Emperor's New Clothes (2015) Written by: writer_name Directed by: Michael Winterbottom Running time: 101 mins Rating: The Players: Russell Brand, Official website: IMDb entry For session times of current films, use the cinema listings on the Movie links page. For scheduled release dates, see the coming attractions section. For more information about this movie, check out the internet movie database. For the latest additions to Festivale, check out the change history section.

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