Independent Lens
Season 8 Episode 22 - Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Enron dives from the seventh largest US company to bankruptcy in less than a year in this tale told chronologically. The emphasis is on human drama, from suicide to 20,000 people sacked: the personalities of Ken Lay (with Falwellesque rectitude), Jeff Skilling (he of big ideas), Lou Pai (gone with $250 M), and Andy Fastow (the dark prince) dominate. Along the way, we watch Enron game California's deregulated electricity market, get a free pass from Arthur Andersen (which okays the dubious mark-to-market accounting), use greed to manipulate banks and brokerages (Merrill Lynch fires the analyst who questions Enron's rise), and hear from both Presidents Bush what great guys these are.
Episodes in Season 8
Still Life With Animated Dogs
60 min
The World According to Sesame Street
60 min
Muskrat Lovely
60 min
Paul Conrad: Drawing Fire
60 min
Democracy on Deadline
60 min
Two Square Miles
60 min
A Sad Flower in the Sand
60 min
Revolucion: Five Visions
60 min
Short Stack 2006
60 min
A Fish Story
60 min
Shadya
60 min
Beyond the Call
60 min
Twisted
60 min
Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life
60 min
Motherland Afghanistan
60 min
Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes
60 min
Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?
60 min
Stolen
60 min
Race to Execution
60 min
China Blue
60 min
Black Gold
60 min
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
60 min
The Cats of Mirikitani
60 min
Sentenced Home
60 min
Knocking
60 min
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
60 min
La Lupe Queen of Latin Soul
60 min
