For updates about the release and film screenings,
Sign up for our newsletter or follow us on Instagram.

About the Film

The global multi-crisis is accelerating, it affects all levels of society: democracy, climate, biodiversity, migration, justice, equality, institutions, farming … And yet, there is no mainstream debate about the issue at the core of many — if not all — of these problems: our economies. How they function, what they deliver and how they are designed is not really part of our public conversation. 

The economic system that is running our societies has a very narrow focus: We must “grow the GDP”, i.e. make more money, no matter the cost. Rather than improving our lives, this logic is now tearing our societies and our planet apart. But no one seems to be working on a viable political alternative.

Or maybe some people are? And we have just not been paying attention?

In late 2017, Katherine Trebeck initiates the ‘Wellbeing Economy Governments’, an international alliance opposed to the mighty G7. Her plan: a new group of countries that are ready to reshape their politics and redesign their economies. While she works tirelessly to make it happen, the project flounders, gets revived and evolves. Eventually, it unites five countries: Scotland, New Zealand, Iceland, Wales, and Finland. It may turn into a starting point for a new economic vision for the world.

Lorenzo Fioramonti helps start the alliance. Then, suddenly, he is invited to run for office in his home country Italy. He wins a parliamentary seat in the general election and hopes to create a wellbeing economy as a Minister for Economic Development. But then he gets sidelined in a troubled government. When it falls apart and a new coalition forms, he unexpectedly becomes Minister for Education and manages to implement some of his bold ideas.

“What I appreciated most about ‘Purpose’ is its ability to tell a compelling story. It not only follows the two protagonists through the ups and downs of trying to effect change within our democracies, but also reveals a deeply personal and autobiographical journey of discovery and realisation. We were delighted to include ‘Purpose’ as part of our Sustain Festival launch.”

– Jon Weinbren
Programme Director for Film, Animation and Digital Arts
Surrey University

“We desperately need more and better stories about how to change our world. ‘Purpose’ provides precisely such a story — showing us what economic systems change looks like in action. Highly recommended!”

– Sandrine Dixson-Declève
Co-President of the Club of Rome

“The film ‘Purpose’ is not only a great film about economic systems change — it is also the inspiring story of two people who are fighting for a world in which humanity can survive!”

— Elin Hirst
Published Author and Filmmaker,
former Head of News at the Icelandic National
Broadcasting Corporation

“’Purpose’ may well have captured the start of a quiet revolution. Its story of perseverance is an inspiring one.”

— Michael Weatherhead
Co-Founder Wellbeing Economy Alliance

“This is a fantastic film. Anyone interested in seeing how two actors — Katherine Trebeck and Lorenzo Fioramonti — can do so much to push a new economy forward, watch this! This isn’t about left, right or any other political abstracted ideologies. This is about going back to the basics that most of us share.”

Dr. Victoria Hurth
Fellow Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
ISO Purpose-Driven Organizations Project Leader

* * *

With his film Purpose, director Martin Oetting asks the central question of our time: What is the purpose of our economies, and how can we change it? The film follows two individuals who develop ground-breaking political projects in order to shift our economic systems — away from endless GDP growth, towards wellbeing for people and planet. They envision a world in which we no longer serve the economy, but the economy serves us.