Press and Reviews

Review by Steve Morrissey – (Former film reviewer for The Evening Standard)

“A fascinating, informative film asking all the right questions”

Here in Brexit Britain we find ourselves in a peculiar situation. In spite of having done pretty well out of Europe, including our various rebates, opt-outs and special deals, fifth richest country in the world and all that, we have suddenly rebelled, storming out of the https://moviesteve.com/the-spiders-web-britains-second-empire/

Markus Meinzer – Author of Steueroase Deutschland

This film tells the fascinating story about the murky world of offshore finance. The connections between its historical roots and today’s impact on the lives of all of us are laid bare in shocking clarity. This film is a must for everyone who tries to make sense of the modern economy and the rise of inequality – it is the best I have seen to date on that subject.

Richard Murphy – Professor of International Political Economy (University of London)

This film is shocking, persuasive, factual and shaming. Watch it and you won’t view bankers, lawyers, accountants or many in our political elite in the same way ever again. Professor of Practice in International Political Economy, University of London. Blog: www.taxresearch.org.uk

Frederik Obermaier – Journalist (Pulitzer Prize 2017)

Want to know more about the menace of tax havens and the role of the City of London & Overseas Territories? Then this great film is a must!

David Quentin – Tax Barrister

A brilliant film, skillfully deploying the documentary staples of archive footage and expert talking heads to tell its story, which by its nature risks being technical and fragmented, in an accessible and compelling way. The narrative is framed by reference to the evolution of the UK from an imperial to a financial one, but the issues are wider and more immediate: the systemic, structural opacity and corruption at the heart of a world purportedly governed in the interests of respectable business and in accordance with the rule of law.

Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten (German Press, in English)

“The City of London: Capital of an invisible empire.” The British Empire still persists – in the guise of the City of London. This is where the real power lies. https://deutsche-wirtschafts-nachrichten.de/2017/09/18/city-london-capital-invisible-empire/

by True Publica

The key inspiration, according to Michael Oswald, was Nicholas Shaxson’s best-selling Treasure Islands, which explained the way in which the formal British Empire morphed into a spider’s web of tax havens gathering financial wealth from across the world and funnelling it through to the City. https://truepublica.org.uk/united-kingdom/city-london-capital-invisible-empire/

by Peter May on Progressive Pulse

If you want to well up with a sense of pride in Britain then this film may be best avoided. But if you feel you ought to know why the City of London hangs on to such extraordinary wealth, whilst hiding behind the Rule of Law. http://www.progressivepulse.org/economics/the-spiders-web-a-film-on-the-city

By Bianca Garner on Filmotomy:

“Forget anything by John Le Carre, this [The Spider’s Web] is a real political drama which is more thrilling than anything seen in Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy. This documentary isn’t like any fiction film that Hollywood has ever produced, which goes to show you that real life is far more sinister and corrupt than anything that a screenwriter can imagine.”
https://filmotomy.com/the-spiders-web-britains-second-empire/

By Joel Benjamin on Open Democracy

“The Spider’s Web offers unique insight into the British Empire, both past and present, and its colonies and far flung outposts. This is a story which, if known at all, is often understood through a rose tinted view of what that British Empire actually represented.”
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/film-review-spider-s-web-britain-s-second-empire/

By Nick Holdsworth in Modern Times Review, The European Documentary Magazine

“The Spider’s Web employs an array of experts in offshore tax havens to detail the degree to which the British elite has created a system of shocking inequity.”
https://www.moderntimes.review/britains-hidden-empire/

By Mathew D. Rose and David Shirreff on braveneweurope.com

Should you be having difficulties making sense of the “Paradise Papers” or simply not know much about tax havens, then Michael Oswald’s documentary film “The Spider’s Web: Britain’s second empire” is the ideal place to begin. The film, which premiered just a few months ago, tells the story of how tax havens came into existence, how and what they do, and why, despite their socially destructive business model, they continue to thrive.
https://braveneweurope.com/michael-oswald-the-spiders-web

Together Tv: A Tax Heaven in the Heart of Britain

Oswald interviews leading experts, academics, former insiders and campaigners for social justice and the use of stylised b-roll and archive footage, reveals how in the world of international finance, corruption and secrecy have prevailed over-regulation and transparency, and how the UK is right at the heart of this.
https://www.togethertv.com/blog/spiders-web-tax-haven-heart-britain

The Spider’s Web – A Review by Nicholas Wilson

A film by Michael Oswald about how the British Empire of colonial power transformed into an empire of financial power. As the British Empire declined, so did the City of London.
https://nicholaswilson.com/the-spiders-web-a-review/

Review by Descadent Deb (The British Blacklist Reviews)

The Spider’s Web: Britain’s Second Empire is Michael Oswald’s newest revelatory feature documentary – one which is as important to Britain as Ava Du Vernay’s 13th (2016) is to Americans. Both place national history into a disturbing modern context! It parallels Du Vernay’s deduction that in giving up overt slavery, American elites subverted the 13th […]

LOAD MORE Close