In this post, I share some of recent documentaries I have enjoyed. They are not based on any particular topic but areas of general interest.
Shenzhen: silicon valley of Hardware: Shenzhen’s approach to innovation and building companies is quite different from Silicon Valley’s. The major prevailing notion is that Shenzhen and generally China’s innovation is based on copycat mentality. But this documentary explores this idea more to show that it is rooted on idea and opinions on open-source and intellectual property and that instead of always building things from scratch, sometimes it is easier, faster and more efficient to make improvements on existing products. Funny how the concept of open source seemed far-fetched but is now going mainstream especially with things such as public blockchains. Also some other things like the inevitable process of gentrification that is as a result of government trying to ‘upgrade’ a place.
Another closely related documentary is: Holy Land: Startup Nations, Israel’s innovation amidst the prevailing conflicts with Palestine which has also its own share of innovation and how innovation permeates the prevailing social/political situation in the region. Other themes include influence of military training on innovation- most young people first join military at 18 before proceeding to college. Click here for the full video. Innovation and ideology are closely tied.
The revenge of electric car: story of the complicated journey of start, almost failure and re-birth of electric cars. What many might not know is that GM was actually first to manufacture electric car long before Tesla, then stopped, saying they would never work, and that’s just in 2005. Then later, the launch of Tesla Roadster in 2008 revamped the excited from other manufacturers and now mainstream electric cars seem a reality more than ever.
The men who built America: A three part docu-series about a small group of industrialists pioneered various industries. John Rockefeller(Standard Oil), Cornelius Vanderbilt(Railroads), JP Morgan(banking), Andrew Carnegie(steel industry) and Henry ford (cars).
modern urban cities: Abu Dhabi, with all its glory. The storyline of this documentary is showing the progress, the exquisiteness of a modern advanced city. But you can also feel the underlying story of intersection of high city life and ordinary people, especially small scale traders, which is a story of almost any major upcoming city in developing world.
The India’s smart city plan is also a notable view.
A decent review by DW of promising Africa innovation scene
why Germany continues to be the richest country in Europe: families manufacturing businesses that continue to thrive by a combination of management practices, apprenticeship, investment in R&D.
christhecurator 