Death By Design: Doc/Fest 2016 Review

Death by Design is a hard-hitting documentary about the global implications of our consumption of technology. From the appalling human and environmental effects in the creation of technology to their dangerous disposal, the scope of this documentary is epic in its geography, content and emotional breadth.

Well-researched and highly informative filmmaker Sue Williams starts by revealing the horrific pollution of water in China through the waste produced by factories creating our iPhones and laptops. This soon develops to explore the slave-like working conditions of the exploited Chinese factory workers and the severe health risks. But where the film really hits its stride is exposing how the exact same thing happened originally in the USA when the technology was first created, and how chemical leaks and a failure to dispose of the toxins safely caused – and still causes – cancer, severe disability in children and high death rates. Touching interviews with a mother who worked at IBM and whose lead poisoning caused her son to be born severely disabled, and with parents of a child who died from cancer after an IBM chemical leak in New York, brings the human cost to life.

The real shock is how large companies, notably Apple, are doing nothing about the working conditions and environmental disasters their production is causing. As succinctly said in the film, “away is here for someone”, as the sea and air becomes more and more polluted with these chemicals. Unless action happens now, the deadly cost of technology will cause irrevocable damage.

This insightful and rousing documentary about our rampant consumption of technology opens the lid on the environmental and human catastrophe caused by technology – once watched you will never see an Apple product in the same way again.

RATING: 4/5

INFORMATION

DIRECTOR: Sue Williams

SYNOPSIS: An expose on the technology industry and the terrifying human and environmental cost of its ever-increasing production.