19 March 2026: Movie : The Cost of Growth

The documentary Cost of Growth challenges Europe’s growth story by exposing the extractive systems it relies on and the communities that pay the price.This evening brings together film, trade union struggle, and political dialogue at a moment of deepening climate crisis, militarization, and capitalist restructuring. Selected excerpts from Cost of Growth critically examine Europe’s growth model by exposing the extractive logic and dynamics of capital accumulation that drive it.

The film traces resistance in Serbia and Sápmi — and in Italy, including the ongoing struggle of the ex-GKN workers’ collective — linking conflicts over mining, factory closure, and the colonization of Indigenous lands to broader questions of democratic control over production and social power.

Rather than treating ecological transition as separate from questions of war and industry, the film situates climate politics within the same growth imperative that underpins arms production, austerity, colonialism and global inequality — opening space to reflect on solidarity across struggles. Dario Salvetti will speak about the continuing campaign of the ex-GKN workers, whose alternative industrial plan has become a European reference point for worker-led transformation and whose struggle continues through active transnational solidarity and crowdfunding.

For the first time, representatives from three Berlin-based initiatives will share a stage to explore how labor rights, climate justice, and opposition to militarization intersect in practice. Inspired by the convergence built in Italy, the event aims to foster sustained collaboration across movements confronting austerity, militarization, and ecological crisis — from local struggles in Germany to international solidarity efforts around the world.

Language: screening: English (with German subtitles); panel discussion: English

Admission: Free entry, registration required (see above)

Program

18:00 – Doors Open
18:30 – Welcome & Framing (Aaron Niederman, Research Fellow, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung)
18:40 – Film Excerpts (~ 40 min)
19:30 – Featured Address (Dario Salvetti, ex-GKN Workers’ Collective)
19:45 – Panel Discussion & Audience Q&A (Berlin Steht Zusammen; Gewerkschafter*innen für Gaza; Berliner Bündnis gegen Waffenproduktion)
20:15 – Informal Reception