IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary
Germany, 2014 DCP, color, 100 min Director: Marcus Vetter Co-director: Karin Steinberger Photography: Georg Zengerling Editing: Marcus Vetter Sound: Aljoscha Haupt Music: Sven Kaiser Production: Marcus Vetter for Filmperspektive,
Ulli Pfau for Eikon, Michael Heiks for TV Plus Co-Production: C-FILMS Screening Copy: Filmperspektive Involved TV Channels: SWR, NDR, ARTE
The Forecaster
WORLD PREMIERE
Marcus Vetter
Starting at a very young age, Martin Armstrong displayed an entrepreneurial spirit and an analytical ability that were far too complicated for others. As a child he was already collecting coins, and before long he would be trading in gold. As an adult, he started the company Princeton Economics International. Based on a self-designed model, in which the mysterious number Pi plays an intrinsic role, he was able to calculate developments in the world economy. His predictions about stock crises or currency problems were eerily accurate, and he built up a clientele that consisted of powerful players in the global economy. All this made him a lot of money, but also more and more enemies in high places. In 1999, the FBI was on his doorstep, and he ended up in prison on charges of fraud and conspiracy without any judgment ever passed. In 2012, he suddenly reappeared in public life, and he shares his pessimistic views on the disastrous developments in the world. In the film he tells his remarkable story, supported by archive footage and interviews with his mother, former employees and customers. It’s a story that reads a lot like a film script.
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Marcus Vetter: Ein Schweinegeld (1999), The Tunnel (1999), Where Money Grows (2000), Wargames (2002), Florida: Streets of the Duped (2003), Cinema Jenin (2011) Marcus Vetter & Dominik Wessely: Broadway Bruchsal (2001), Die Unterzerbrechlichen (2006) Marcus Vetter & Arianne Riecker: My Father the Turk (2006) Marcus Vetter & Stefan Tolz: Traders´ Dreams: The Ebay World (2007) Marcus Vetter & Leon Geller: The Heart of Jenin (2008) Marcus Vetter & Karin Steinberger: Hunger (2009)