Tobacco, climate change, pesticides,... Never has scientific knowledge seemed so vast, detailed and shared. And yet it appears to be increasingly challenged. It is no longer surprising to see private corporations put strategies in place to confuse the public debate and paralyze political decision-making. Overwhelmed by excess of information, how can we, as citizens, sort out fact from fiction? One by one, this film dismantles the workings of this clever manoeuvre that aims to turn science against itself. Thanks to declassified archives, graphic animations and testimonies from experts, lobbyists and politicians, this investigation plunges us into the science of doubt. Along with a team of experts (philosophers, economists, cognitive scientists, political men, or even agnotologists), we explore concrete examples of doubt making and try to understand the whole process and the issues behind it.

Spin doctors spread misinformation and confusion among American citizens to delay progress on such important issues as global climate change.

Working from Naomi Oreske and Erik Conway’s acclaimed book, Robert Kenner (FOOD INC.) crafts an entertaining and thoughtful investigation of an acute problem: the pro-industry science deniers. From the advocates of nuclear deterrence, to the peddling of pseudo-science by cigarette manufacturers to deniers of climate change—perhaps today’s most urgent scientific and political issue—Kenner exposes the ways that industryfunded professional deniers deliberately mystify what the scientific community considers settled facts. A startling array of climate change deniers cheerfully admit to their distortions and Kenner is able to locate the ideological convictions that are driving them. Particularly moving is one arch-conservative U.S. Congressman who decided to go to Antarctica to check out the state of the polar ice caps for himself. Shaken by what he saw, he returned to oppose his old die-hard ideological allies.