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Best Long-Form Documentary, Independent Television and Video Producers Association Competition, Finalist, 2000

International Honorable Mention, CINDY Award, 2000

"This is not your father's
training video."

Read The Reviews

This captivating feature-length documentary follows the lives of 19 executives, managers, educators and consultants who came to The Power Lab to deepen their understanding and competency as leaders and members of social systems. They were "born" into one of three classes within the Society of New Hope, either as members of the Elite, the Middles, or the Immigrants. There was no script; what you see is the emerging drama of real people in real time struggling to find their voices, their power, and their leadership.

This is gripping drama. There are power moves and counter-moves, confrontations across class lines and within classes. There are powerful courtroom scenes, and a theatre piece put on by the Immigrants in the best tradition of political theatre. You watch the society unfold as it struggles in the familiar tension between maintaining the status quo and transforming into something new. And you see first-hand the transitions the participants undergo in their roles.

While the documentary is a riveting story, it is more than that. Commentary by Barry Oshry provides the viewer with rare glimpses and valuable insights into the dynamics of system life whether in the organization, the university, the community or the nation. There are the struggles of the Elite as they face fundamental differences in their views of what kind of system they want to create; the disempowering forces operating on the Middles and their struggle to find individual and collective power; the pressures toward uniformity within the Immigrant group and both the collective strength and the painful consequences of that unity. And more.

This provocative video comes with Facilitator and Viewer Guides to help viewers deepen their experience of the film and clarify their own issues of power, leadership, and other dynamics of system life.

Who Is The Target Audience?
The documentary is appropriate for anyone with an interest in learning more about the nature of human systems, diversity, class struggles, confrontation, or change. It stimulates productive conversation in university classes, leadership development seminars, community organizations and other institutions dedicated to social change.

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