Former Cox heir Fergie Chambers isn’t just part of the 1%. He’s in the top 1% of the top 1%.
“He’s actually in the 0.01%, because he has several hundred million dollars,” said documentarian Sinead O’Shea.
Chambers is the main character of O’Shea’s latest film, “All About The Money,” which premieres at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The documentary details two years of Chambers’ life, including his attempts to create a “communist revolutionary training base” in Alford, Mass.
O’Shea learned about Chambers and his work in the Berkshires after a friend ended up living in the community during the pandemic. She said she was deeply intrigued by the aims of the project as well as the fact that it was entirely financed by Chambers, whose payout after divesting from Cox Enterprises is estimated at $250 million.
“He had these very sincere desires to change how the capitalist system works to introduce a more egalitarian society,” O’Shea said.
Ironically, the changes Chambers wants can only be achieved with and through the capitalist system from which he has benefited. His plan is to buy property and large swaths of land, pay community members stipends and cover all living expenses.
“That takes tremendous resources and that’s tricky to introduce as an entire system,” O’Shea said. “I think he’s not hoping that lots of rich people are going to emulate that; I think he wants to introduce a revolution.”
The community was relatively underground, until the events of October 7, 2023, led Chambers and the collective to start outwardly protesting against Israel. After acts of vandalism toward property owned by Elbit Systems, a weapons manufacturer, resulted in the arrest of community members, Chambers decided to flee the country, leaving behind his communist collective.
“I think the biggest risk for him wasn’t imprisonment, but that his assets would be seized,” O’Shea said.
The film then follows Chambers as he moves from New England to Tunisia while also detailing the deterioration of the Berkshires community and its members, some of whom faced criminal charges and all of whom had to restructure their lives. And though the film’s central character is Chambers, O’Shea said there’s a much bigger message to her documentary.
“This film is really a cautionary tale about the perils of extreme wealth more than anything,” O’Shea said. “The people with the money are winning now, and there seems to be no checks. I do feel that somebody like Fergie truly does want to do good with his money. I think there are lots of other rich people who never really give it a second thought. But the house always wins.”
Guest
- Sinead O’Shea, filmmaker and director of “All About The Money”
