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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
– Jonathan Cooper, YouTube
– Fightmax Gaming, YouTube
– Dodjie Santos, YouTube
– Mr Knuk, YouTube
– Nora Germain, YouTube
– Teck Low, YouTube
– Dani Walker, YouTube
– Marc P, YouTube
– Matthew McKean, YouTube
– Scott Ales, YouTube
– Michael Vingerhoet, YouTube
– Ryan Day, YouTube
– Bruce Thomson, YouTube
– 101 Bitcoin Reasons, YouTube
– Marius Klingl, YouTube
– Egor, YouTube
– J.Gabriel Parra Cortes, YouTube
– 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 Film by Manuel Stagars
Manuel Stagars is a Swiss film director and autor. His documentary films focus on science, innovation and technology and their impact on society.
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.
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
This is a deep plunge into the blockchain. Highly recommended.
– Mars or Bust, iTunes
Recent Podcast Episodes
- Why Blockchain Standards Create New Business Models for Companies and Developers – Ron Resnick, Enterprise Ethereum Alliance
- Ron Resnick – Why Blockchain Standards Create New Business Models for Companies and Developers
- How Blockchain Technology Redefines Entrepreneurship – Daniel Doll-Steinberg, Atari Token
- Daniel Doll-Steinberg – How Blockchain Technology Redefines Entrepreneurship
- A Recap of Zug’s Bitcoin Experiment and How it Energized Switzerland – Dolfi Mueller, Mayor of Zug
- Dolfi Mueller – A Recap of Zug’s Bitcoin Experiment and How it Energized Switzerland
- Bitcoin’s Early Days and its Eternal September, Bitcoin Association Switzerland, and Why Regulation Kills Innovation – Luzius Meisser, Meisser Economics
- Luzius Meisser – Bitcoin’s Early Days and its Eternal September, Bitcoin Association Switzerland, and Why Regulation Kills Innovation
- Marketing Basics for ICOs and Blockchain Projects – John Hargrave, CEO at Mediashower
- John Hargrave – Marketing Basics for ICOs and Blockchain Projects
- How Digital Jurisdictions Help Us Escape 1984 and Take Back Control – Luis Cuende, Co-Founder of Aragon
- Luis Cuende – How Digital Jurisdictions Help Us Escape 1984 and Take Back Control
- From Dot-Com Entrepreneur to Blockchain Investor and Enabler – Mathias Ruch, Lakeside Partners/CV VC
- Mathias Ruch – From Dot-Com Entrepreneur to Blockchain Investor and Enabler
- Tone Vays – Analyzing the Price of Bitcoin