Written, directed and animated by Oscar-winning filmmaker and cartoonist Bruce Petty, Global Haywire is a documentary fable, threading live action and animation with stunning dynamism and originality to tell a tale of how East and West has reached the present crisis point.
Referred to (rather too humbly) as “a cartoonist's inquiry” into what now seems to be a kind of brilliant but frightening world madness, Global Haywire is a crowning achievement in Petty's illustrious career.

It is a wide-ranging, intellectually nimble and frequently hilarious investigation into the state of the world, and the manifold unresolved issues that are much too complex to express simply but much too serious to leave to political leaders and elite observers. Petty examines globalisation, massive un-payable debts, the spread of nuclear weapons, diminishing oil reserves, terrorism and religious fundamentalism. Weaving in the wisdom of the likes of Gore, Vidal, Noam Chomsky, Tariq Ali and Robert Fisk, along with that of students from around the world, Global Haywire is a revelatory work that elevates truth to satire.

Director Bruce Petty will be attending the festival and will introduce the session on Sunday 6 August, 7.15pm at ACMI. A Q&A will follow the screening.