From the New York Times: “Festivalgoers in Venice and Toronto who attended the premieres this weekend of The Shock Doctrine, a six-minute film written by the author Naomi Klein and the director Alfonso Cuarón, saw images of electroshock treatments from the 1950s, animated pages from a C.I.A. torture manual and footage of the 9/11 attacks and the 2004 tsunami. The brief movie encapsulates the thesis of a new book of the same title by Ms. Klein: That unconstrained free-market policies go hand in hand with undemocratic political policies.

“While Mr. Cuarón’s political passions can be glimpsed in his dystopian 2006 thriller Children of Men (Ms. Klein is a commentator on the DVD), most Hollywood directors don’t end up making promotional videos for thick texts about global economics. “When she asked if I was interested in doing a trailer,” he said from Italy, “my answer was, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t do it.’ ”

“Then Mr. Cuarón read the book: “I had to call her back. I said, “Naomi, please don’t drop this. You — we — have to do this.” He drafted his son Jonás to direct.”