State of Affairs

The Divide is a cinematic documentary that tells the story of 7 individuals striving for a better life in modern day US and UK – where the top 0.1% owns as much wealth as the bottom 90%. By plotting these tales together, we uncover how every aspect of our lives is controlled by one factor: the size of the gap between the rich and the poor. This isn’t based on real life. This is real life. Wall Street psychologist Alden wants to make it to the top 1%; KFC worker Leah from Richmond, Virginia just wants to make it through the day; Jen in Sacramento, California doesn’t even talk to the neighbours in her upscale gated community – they’ve made it clear to her she isn’t “their kind”. By weaving these stories with the news archive from 1979 to the present day, The Divide creates a lyrical, psychological and tragi-comic picture of how economic division creates social division. It serves both as a call to arms, and a powerful warning.