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The first documentary film about the blockchain
The award-winning The Blockchain and Us is the first documentary film about blockchain technology. It has screened internationally, including in Davos at the World Economic Forum, in Vienna at the Open Everything Film Festival (winner best documentary short), in Melbourne at the Transitions Film Festival, in Amsterdam at the Fraude Film Festival, in London at the Everyman Theatre and at Coinscrum, in Minneapolis at the Analytics and Financial Innovation Conference (AXFI), in Zurich at Tech Tuesday, and in Tokyo at the Swiss Chamber of Commerce an Industry in Japan (SCCIJ). The film has been translated in Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese.
What people are saying about the film
Excellent documentary. I was hesitant to watch it because I thought it might be more explanation than application. I can find enough videos for the explanation part. Instead this gave an excellent view from the companies and people working with it. I was very pleased to hear how many of them see this as a true opportunity for the whole population not just a way to make a quick buck.
– Jonathan Cooper, YouTube
Amazing work putting this documentary together! Very Informative and insightful. As a long time believer in blockchain-based technologies, this documentary was very refreshing and inspiring.
– Fightmax Gaming, YouTube
Without bitcoin, there would be no blockchain. Every industry is now looking at using the blockchain.
– Dodjie Santos, YouTube
Nicely done! But holy s***, Swiss people and their accent…
– Mr Knuk, YouTube
Wish there was a documentary or at least footage of what people said about the Internet before it got going, or anyone speculating about technology we all use every day now.
– Nora Germain, YouTube
Great work. I am a believer in blockchain technology, your documentary laid it all out very succinctly. There is really no excuse to be ignorant about the phenomenon. I have shared this on my Facebook page. Thanks!
– Teck Low, YouTube
Absolutely excellent. Thank you so much for your passion and immense work to put this together for the masses to learn and be inspired by the blockchain. I’ll be sharing and hope that everyone I know will watch this and catch the message.
– Dani Walker, YouTube
Now that there is an instrument to decentralize finance, it’s a matter of applying it. That will be the hard part, banks will fight, but that’s also where the opportunities are.
– Marc P, YouTube
Really insightful quote by Elizabeth Stark: “Necessity is not just the mother of invention, but the mother of ADOPTION”.
– Matthew McKean, YouTube
Ignore the blockchain at your own peril. I wonder if we have learned how fast these types of things are happening in our world today? It will be amazing to see how this unfolds.
– Scott Ales, YouTube
Very interesting and well done documentary on blockchain technology. Clearly the revolution of our world for global transactions of all kinds.
– Michael Vingerhoet, YouTube
Thank you very much! I believe the time horizons for dramatic societal change are conservative. When a lack of trust dissolves, creativity flourishes. I believe the change will accelerate before it tapers off.
– Ryan Day, YouTube
Beautiful, elegant, insightful, interesting. Thanks for creating.
– Bruce Thomson, YouTube
Great content, Manuel. I added it to my article on “The Best Bitcoin Documentaries”. Thanks for your contribution to the bitcoin space.
– 101 Bitcoin Reasons, YouTube
Goosebump video!
– Marius Klingl, YouTube
Reminds me of a Werner Herzog film.
– Egor, YouTube
Me gustó mucho este documental; como entusiasta de blockchain te digo gracias por postearlo.
– J.Gabriel Parra Cortes, YouTube
Great documentary Manuel and crew! Very cool corporation perspectives and long term vision potential of blockchains. The question is ‘will we’? Best line.
– John, YouTube
What is the Blockchain?
blockchain, NOUN /ˈblɒktʃeɪn/
A digital ledger in which transactions made in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency are recorded chronologically and publicly.
From en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/blockchain
A mysterious white paper (Nakamoto, Satoshi, 2008, “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”) introduced the Bitcoin blockchain, a combination of existing technologies that ensures the integrity of data without a trusted party. It consists of a ledger that can’t be changed and a consensus algorithm—a way for groups to agree. Unlike existing databases in banks and other institutions, a network of users updates and supports the blockchain—a system somewhat similar to Wikipedia, which users around the globe maintain and double-check. The cryptocurrency Bitcoin is the first use case of the blockchain, but much more seems to be possible.
The Next Generation of the Internet
The first 40 years of the Internet brought e-mail, social media, mobile applications, online shopping, Big Data, Open Data, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things. Information technology is at the heart of everything today—good and bad. Despite advances in privacy, security, and inclusion, one thing is still missing from the Internet: Trust. Enter the blockchain.
The Blockchain and Us: The Project
When the Wright brothers invented the airplane in 1903, it was hard to imagine there would be over 500,000 people traveling in the air at any point in time today. In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto invented Bitcoin and the blockchain. For the first time in history, his invention made it possible to send money around the globe without banks, governments or any other intermediaries. Satoshi is a mystery character, and just like the Wright brothers, he solved an unsolvable problem. The concept of the blockchain isn’t very intuitive. But still, many people believe it is a game changer. Despite its mysterious beginnings, the blockchain might be the airplane of our time.
Manuel Stagars portrays this exciting technology in interviews with software developers, cryptologists, researchers, entrepreneurs, consultants, VCs, authors, politicians, and futurists from the United States, Canada, Switzerland, the UK, and Australia.
How can the blockchain benefit the economies of nations? How will it change society? What does this mean for each of us? The Blockchain and Us is no explainer video of the technology. It gives a view on the topic, makes it accessible and starts a conversation about its potential wider implications in a non-technical way. The film deliberately poses more questions than it answers. For a deep dive, see all full-length interviews from the film here. Additional information about the project is in the Q&A and Disclaimer.
Stills from the Film
A Project by Manuel Stagars
Award-winning Film Director / Author / Podcaster / Entrepreneur / Economist—Telling stories about emerging technologies.
Conversations about science, technology, and the future that inspire people.
Manuel Stagars is an award-winning Swiss filmmaker with twenty years of hands-on experience as an entrepreneur in the digital startup scene. He has a background in economics and finance as an advisor and as a senior researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH).
Manuel has lived and worked in Europe, America, and Asia and began directing and producing films in 2005 in Los Angeles to explore new modes of communication about society, science, and technology. He has written books on startups, marketplace lending, impact investing, data quality, and Open Data published by Wiley Finance, Palgrave Macmillan, and Apress, a division of Springer-Nature.
Manuel’s documentary films have reached hundreds of thousands of people. His films have screened internationally, including at the World Economic Forum in Davos, in Melbourne at the Transitions Film Festival, in Vienna at the Open Everything Film Festival, in Amsterdam at the Fraude Film Festival, in London at the Everyman Theatre, in Minneapolis at the Analytics and Financial Innovation Conference (AXFI), in Zurich at Tech Tuesday, and in Tokyo at the Swiss Chamber of Commerce an Industry (SCCIJ). They have been translated into Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese.
IMDB: imdb.com/name/nm1046867/
YouTube: youtube.com/c/manuelstagars
Instagram: instagram.com/manuelstagars
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/manuelstagars
Facebook: facebook.com/manuelstagars
Twitter: @manuelstagars
ResearchGate: researchgate.net/profile/Manuel_Stagars
SpeakerHub: speakerhub.com/speaker/manuel-stagars
MakerSupport: makersupport.com/stagars
Interviews from the film
Additional Conversations and Special Thanks
Many people and organizations helped to make this project happen by contributing their ideas, advice, time and access to their networks. Special thanks to all of you (list in alphabetical order of last names).
- Avalbit.org team, www.avalbit.org
- Iris Belle, Tongji University, www.iris-belle.com
- Kenneth Berthelsen, www.linkedin.com/in/kennethb
- Ben Bledsoe, www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminbledsoe
- Thomas Bromehead, www.berigaudvehiculesanciens.fr
- Richard Cheng
- Jose Felip Daras, www.linkedin.com/in/josefelip
- Dario Duran, www.utxo.ch
- Marie Farrar Knowles, Chamber of Digital Commerce, www.digitalchamber.org
- Olga Feldmeier, Verto Advisory, www.linkedin.com/in/olga-feldmeier-0a4a7a2
- Sonya Fricker, www.iso-20022.ch
- Daniel Gasteiger, nexussquared, www.nexussquared.co
- Daniel Grassinger, nexussquared, www.nexussquared.co
- Johs. Hoehener, Swisscom Digital Business, www.swisscom.ch
- Caio Rearte, www.linkedin.com/in/caiorearte/
- Rein Jonkman, www.linkedin.com/in/plutone
- Richard Kastelein, Blockchain News, www.the-blockchain.com
- Leanne Kemp, Everledger, www.everledger.io
- Thomas Kern, Swiss ICT Investor Club (SICTIC), www.sictic.ch/fintech
- Francine Klopfenstein, Zurich Airport, www.flughafen-zuerich.ch
- Miriam Kozak, Future Matters, www.future-matters.com
- Veronica Lange, UBS, www.ubs.ch
- Adriano B. Lucatelli, Descartes Finance, www.descartes-finance.com
- Christian Mäder, Bitlake, www.bitlake.net, www.bitcoinnews.ch
- Ruedi Maeder, www.iso-20022.ch
- Luzius Meisser, Meisser Economics, www.meissereconomics.com
- Michael Monceaux, www.linkedin.com/in/mcmonceaux
- Martin Mueller, UX/UI & Interaction Design, www.martinxd.com
- Mia Mutic, Deloitte, www.deloitte.com
- Ian Petchenik, Flightradar24, www.flightradar24.com
- Nathaniel Popper, www.nathanielpopper.com
- Ramon Quesada, www.linkedin.com/in/ramonbitcoin
- Kamesh Raghavendra, The Hive, www.hivedata.com
- Brian Rogers, Swiss Re, www.swissre.com
- Jouko Salonen, www.linkedin.com/in/joukosalonen
- Sergey Sevantsyan, www.linkedin.com/in/sergey-sevantsyan
- Vadim Shamigulov, www.linkedin.com/in/vadim-shamigulov
- Raffaela Stelzer, Zurich Airport, www.flughafen-zuerich.ch
- Don Tapscott, www.dontapscott.com
- Elizabeth Wesson, Swiss Re, www.swissre.com
- Iwona Zdanowicz, Bloq, www.bloq.com
Press
What’s next? The Blockchain and Us podcast.
The podcast continues where the film left off with interviews with pioneers and innovators about the present and future of blockchain technology, cryptoassets, and the token economy. It is now available on www.theblockchainandus.com, iTunes, Sticher, Mixcloud, and all major podcast apps and platforms.
One to keep and ear on
I’ve been following Stagars for a while now. He gets to know and interviews those all around the world who are at the forefront of future tech. His focus is largely on blockchain and also the advent of tech-promoted groundbreaking shifts in perception, culture, markets, and well, sometimes it seems everything. This is a podcast to pay attention to if you’re interested in tech and/or the future.
– Mr Mackerel, iTunes
The right stuff
This is a deep plunge into the blockchain. Highly recommended.
– Mars or Bust, iTunes
Recent Podcast Episodes
- Hackernoon: Five Blockchain Podcasts You Shouldn’t Miss (Spoiler: The Blockchain and Us is #1)
- How Cosmos Enables the Internet of Blockchains – Brian Fabian Crain, Co-Founder & CEO Chorus One, Co-Host at Epicenter
- How Cosmos Enables the Internet of Blockchains – Brian Fabian Crain, Co-Founder & CEO Chorus One, Co-Host at Epicenter
- “Blockchain Is Successful When People Don’t Know They’re Using It” – Johannes Schweifer, Co-Founder & CEO, CoreLedger
- “Blockchain is Successful When People Don’t Know They’re Using It” – Johannes Schweifer, Co-Founder & CEO, CoreLedger
- Crypto Weekly: 24 Crypto Podcasts with Tips from Industry Experts
- How a Blockchain Venture Studio Works – Mervyn G. Maistry, CEO & Founder, Konfidio and Kintaro Capital
- How a Blockchain Venture Studio Works – Mervyn G. Maistry, CEO & Founder, Konfidio and Kintaro Capital
- Why New Technologies Need Sharper Critical Thinking – Andrea Bauer, Founder & Senior Advisor, BEAM Innovation Studio
- Why New Technologies Need Sharper Critical Thinking – Andrea Bauer, Founder & Senior Advisor, BEAM Innovation Studio
- Why You Need Digital Identity Before Anything Else – Daniel Gasteiger, Founder & CEO, Procivis
- Why You Need Digital Identity Before Anything Else – Daniel Gasteiger, Founder & CEO, Procivis
- Why the Blockchain Space Needs Better Access – Alexis Gauba, Co-Founder she(256), Mechanism Labs
- Why the Blockchain Space Needs Better Access – Alexis Gauba, she(256), Mechanism Labs
- Why Good Content is King in Blockchain PR – David Wachsman, Founder and CEO, Wachsman