Washing Bin Laden, 10mins
A film by Zanny Begg
“bin Ladens” is a colloquial term for the EU$500 note, one of the highest value banknotes in the world. The term emerged because although a quarter of all the $500 euros printed are circulating within Spain – no one ever sees them in ordinary transactions: their role is mostly confined to money laundering activities.
Washing bin Laden looks at the notion of financial crisis in Spain through the story of Enric Duran a modern day Robin Hood of the Banks who stole almost half a million euros and gave it to social organisations like AureaSocial. A EU$500 note is gifted to AureaSocial, a hub for the movement of financial disobedience, to explore if activists can “wash” money of its oppressive role.
The project was funded partly through the Barcelona Residency from the Australia Council for the Visual Arts.
