The Yes Men in Berlin: Survivaballs Crash BMW Gala, Demand they Stop Making Cars

reposted from theyesmen.org...

Leonardo Di Caprio, Bob Geldof and and Mikhail Gorbachev were among the dignitaries momentarily blocked by protesters as they tried to enter BMW's high-octane "Cinema for Peace" charity gala in Berlin last night.

"We aren't leaving till BMW stops making cars," declared Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno (also known as "The Yes Men") as they planted themselves in the middle of the red carpet wearing ridiculous inflatable costumes. "Cars are killing the planet, and charity events that greenwash their image aren't helping."

Despite "tight security" (provided by Flash Security, one of the event's sponsors), the two men were able to waddle through a gap in the fence unnoticed. They made it halfway up the red-carpeted grand staircase of the Konzerthaus Berlin, where they sat down and refused to move. Confused celebrities had to navigate around the six-foot-diameter balls for about five minutes until Flash's tall, blond security guards clumsily removed them by force. The protesters sustained a few bruises and a bloodied nose but were otherwise unharmed.

Although BMW does have an electric car, most of their business is in phallus-enhancing gas guzzlers. The acquisition of petroleum that is used in BMW's cars has been identified as the source of ongoing wars in several parts of the world, making them an unlikely sponsor of an event calling for peace.

In addition to ongoing violence over the acquisition of oil, burning petroleum in BMW engines is accelerating climate change, which already kills 150,000 people per year and by 2050 will make a billion homeless (according to one UN study). Historically, mass displacement of people has resulted in war, which means that if BMW wants to avert war, they should stop making cars. After that they can more honestly celebrate peace with lavish charity galas.

"This is yet another case where we treat the symptoms but ignore the disease," said Yes Man Mike Bonanno. Andy Bichlbaum continued: "If we don’t fix our system and start regulating these companies, they will just keep on destroying the world and throwing parties while it burns."

The Yes Men were already in town to launch their new film "The Yes Men Fix The World" at the Berlin Film Festival when they heard about the unrelated "Cinema for Peace" event and could not resist throwing a wrench in the works.

THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD premiering at Sundance 2009!

For the past few years you may have seen short clips of The Yes Men's latest exploits at their live appearances organized by Evil Twin Booking and hints of what was to come in the Lost Film Fest with vj show. Finally the new feature documentary THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD will premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in January. Yay! The new film is full of loads of great culture jamming including the fake New York Times 'special edition' prank which both Scott Beibin and Liz Cole from the Evil Twin Booking Agency participated in (yay!), Dow chemical's Bhopal debacle, Halliburton's Survivaball, The HUD scandal in New Orleans, Vivoleum and so much more. The film should be in theaters later this year.

Scott Beibin from Evil Twin Booking Agency / The Redefinery is the publicist for the film, so if you're with the press and would like to interview Mike Bonanno or Andy Bichlbaum from The Yes Men, or cover some of the other shenanigans we have planned in Park City, please get in touch. Additionally we're having a party for the premiere on Jan 18th so if you're in town and track us down we may be able to help you out with an invite.

If you're interested in booking Andy or Mike from The Yes Men to appear at your school or festival please get in touch with us asap as slots for 2009 are filling up fast. If you're interested in screening the film later this year, or you are looking to help out with the grassroots outreach for the film get in touch, so we can figure something out.

~Scotty and Liz

Enjoy the trailer/sneak peek:

THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD (dir. Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, 2009) is a film for our times. Part screwball comedy about the Apocalypse, part call to arms, it follows two hapless hucksters as they find out how funny the unregulated free market can actually be... and then find the fix.

Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno are two guys who just can't take no for an answer. They have an unusual hobby: addressing big business conferences as the corporations they hate the most. Posing as representatives of Halliburton, Exxon, and other big baddies, they parody their corporate nemeses in ever more extreme ways. In quick succession they deploy an exploding golden skeleton, stinky human-flesh candles, and a giant six-foot orb meant for saving corporate CEOs from the fruits of their depredations. The speeches in which they present these inventions are as excruciatingly silly - and disturbing - as the inventions themselves.

But the truly disturbing thing in the picture is how the business people react. Trying to make sense of this, the two burrow deep into the twisted underworld of the free-market think tanks, finding unexpected (and raucous) comedy in the bowels of the mindset that's destroying our planet.

Those who watch documentaries in order to learn something won't be disappointed. As our heroes appear on the BBC before 300 million viewers, or before 1000 New Orleans contractors alongside Mayor Ray Nagin, the layers of lies that we're used to are unpeeled to reveal the raw heart of truth - a truth that gives hope as well as pause.

Hope explodes at the end of this film with a power that may take audiences straight out of the theater and into the streets. A word of warning to theater owners: make sure your seats are securely screwed down.

(Note: this film has one of the very few underwater ballet scenes you will ever see in a vérité documentary.)

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For press inquiries and speaker booking for Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno of THE YES MEN please contact Scott Beibin and Liz Cole from the Evil Twin Booking Agency and The Redefinery.
www.eviltwinbooking.com
Email: Info [at] eviltwinbooking.com
Tel: 215-473-0308

THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD

ARTE FRANCE / ARTICLE Z / RENEGADE PICTURES UK / BRITDOC / CHARNY-BACHRACH / PRESENT

WRITTEN, DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY
Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonnano

CO-DIRECTOR
Kurt Engfehr

PRODUCED BY
Doro Bachrach
Ruth Charny
Laura Nix

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Patrice Barrat
Alan Hayling
Jess Search
Juliette Timsit

SPECIAL APPEARANCE
Reggie Watts

EDITOR
April Merl

ANIMATION
Patrick Lichty

ORIGINAL MUSIC
Neel Murgai
Noisola

PUBLICITY
Scott Beibin
Liz Cole

THE YES MEN TAKE SUNDANCE IN 2009

The new documentary, The Yes Men Fix The World (dir. Andy Bichlbaum + Mike Bonanno) will be premiering at the Sundance Film Festival 2009 on Jan 18th. Scott Beibin of the Evil Twin Booking Agency and Lost Film Fest was appointed as the publicist for the film. Huge Congratulations to Everyone!!

The film is a follow up to their previous documentary (The Yes Men 2004- dir. Dan Ollman + Sarah Price + Chris Smith), and will feature amazing pranks of the past few years including the Fake New York Times, vivoleum, the survivaball, BBC's Bhopal gaffe, wishful thinking for post-Katrina New Orleans, countless spoofed shareholder meetings and newscasts, plus much much more. We won't spoil the surprises, but you should definitely see this film when it comes out in 2009.

Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum in The Yes Men Fix The World

Liz Cole and Scott Beibin from Evil Twin Booking / Lost Film Fest with Andy Bichlbaum of The Yes Men

Evil Twin Booking speakers Greg Palast and Bill Ayers in the news:

Greg Palast, investigator of financial fraud and author of bestsellers Armed Madhouse and The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, discusses Blagojevich revelations on CNN Headline news, and Bill Ayers, educator, author and activist, debates Chris Matthews on Hardball.

Evil Twin Booking Agency speakers William Ayers and The Yes Men in the news, again:

Educator, author and activist William Ayers is enjoying the last laugh, greeted with an overwhelmingly positive media blitz and packed houses in support of his reissued book "Fugitive Days: Memoirs of an Antiwar Activist". Ayers on Good Morning America:

And, The Yes Men continue to make headlines with the spoof NY Times forecasting real hope and change. Clip from CNN prime time:

The Yes Men, us, and headlines of real Hope and Change.

It's been a very eventful month for Liz Cole and Scott Beibin of the Evil Twin Booking Agency. We kept mum while deluged with hate mail over Bill Ayers. When Obama won, we were overjoyed at the historic significance and danced in the streets. Rather than publicizing the pre-election attention, we decided to focus all of our energy on a project that we believed would really inspire a sense of true Hope and Change. That project, of course, was to work in coalition with dozens of organizations and thousands of volunteers to blanket US cities with 1.2 million copies of a hopeful, albeit fake edition of The New York Times with fantasy headlines like "Iraq War Ends", "National Health Insurance Act Passes" and "Public Relations Industry Starts to Shut Down".

Today was the big day, and we've made headlines. The success shows what can be accomplished when a lot of people we respect and love think big and work together. It is interesting that so many people are pointing the finger at The Yes Men - and, why not? Their brilliant antics and pranks have captured the imagination of a generation that believes another world is possible.

* PDF of the fake New York Times: http://www.nytimes-se.com/pdf

* Ongoing video releases found here: http://www.nytimes-se.com/video

(be careful - if you blink, you might miss Lili Taylor talking about her "compassion muscle")

* The New York Times responds: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/pranksters-spoof-the-times/

Oh the hilarity...

Much love,
Liz Cole and Scott Beibin

We're deluged with Bill Ayers' hate mail...

It's been a blessing to have the current flurry of attention for our speakers bureau, the ever so fabulous, sexy, and sleep deprived Evil Twin Booking Agency.