Documentary on Us Debt Crisis Set to Open This Month

It has been called An Inconvenient Truth for the economy. For some, Dark Night might be more appropriate.

But instead of a caped crusader riding to the rescue of a citizenry at risk or a former vice-president delivering a cinematic Power Point presentation on the perils of climate change, a documentary set for release at the end of this month aims to warn Americans of a different global horror: debt.

I.O.U.S.A. charts the role of debt in pushing the US economy towards the sort of cliffhanger ending beloved of movie-makers. Like Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary, it features an array of talking heads, whiz-bang graphics, pie charts and timelines.

And like Gore's movie it has been met with early acclaim, receiving a standing ovation at this year's Sundance film festival.

"It is a scary story made more scary by the fact that most people in America don't understand what the problems are," director Patrick Creadon told Reuters. "We think our country is in a lot of trouble."

Creadon previously made Wordplay, an acclaimed documentary about crosswords.

Instead of Gore, the film features a former head of the US Government Accountability Office, David Walker, as well as a supporting cast including figures ranging from financial guru Warren Buffet to comedian Steve Martin.

While many are used to living with a national deficit of $9.6tn, the documentary points out that once social security, healthcare and other obligations are factored in, the debt is closer to $53tn. One estimate has it that the national debt rises by $1m for each minute spent watching the film.

Yet while the film and its makers counsel against debt ? the core message is do not spend more than you have ? I.O.U.S.A. itself is the product of debt financing.

Made in 2006, its dire warnings of a mortgage crisis and impending recession became true before the documentary was released.

As it became necessary to embark on a costly re-editing of the film, it exceeded its $500,000 budget, lost its main financial backer and ended up being financed by a production company set up by a Baltimore financial newsletter.

But the financing saga of the film about financial crisis had a happy ending. The film will open in 10 cities across the country on August 21.

Whether moviegoers seeking escapism will flock to a film advertising itself with a poster bearing the image of a shuttered White House and the slogan, "For Sale. Foreclosure. Inquire within" remains to be seen.