| BLACK GOLD, an eye-opening and
entertaining exploration of the business of coffee – from
meticulously hand-picked bean to the $3 cup. Featured in the Sundance
and Human Rights Watch film festivals, BLACK GOLD is must-see film
experience for everyone who drinks coffee. And after you’ve
seen it, that grande latte will never taste quite the same again.
Multinational coffee companies rule our shopping malls and supermarkets
and dominate an industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the
most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil. But while
we continue to pay premium prices for lattes and cappuccinos, the
price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been
forced to abandon their fields.
Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace
of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save from
bankruptcy the 75,000 struggling coffee farmers of the Oromia Coffee
Collective. As these farmers strive to harvest some of the highest
quality coffee beans on the market, Tadesse travels the world in
an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price. BLACK
GOLD tells this story in what "The Nation" has called:
“One of the strongest documentaries
I’ve seen in the
Human Rights Watch Film Festival, or for that matter outside it.”
British documentarians Marc and Nick Francis tell an engaging and
nuanced story of contrasts, juxtaposing African women sifting coffee
beans with bow-tied baristas competing for best cappuccino, and
a bustling Starbucks café with a community of farmers foregoing
their minimal salary in order to build a school for their children.
BLACK GOLD connects the dots of our global economy, putting
a human face on a systemic problem largely hidden from the caffeinated
consumer.
" * * * * EXCELLENT. Filmmakers Nick and
Marc Francis take us to Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, to introduce
us to the plight of the farmers who grow the commodity that is traded
in quantities second only to oil. More than that, they also show
us the tremendous disparities between the profits raked in by global
coffee distributors and the prices paid to the growers."
- Film Threat
"Handsome and astute. The Francises are
aces behind the camera, displaying an elegant sense of composition
that makes their subject visually ravishing." - Robert
Koehler, Variety
"Compelling, beautifully shot."
- Premiere
"First-class. Evokes an emotional response
while trading in intriguing, complex, real-world issues... Entertaining
and instructive." - The Telegraph
"Gives a fascinating and nearly forgotten
history of coffee in Ethiopia." - San Francisco Chronicle
"As bracing as a double espresso!"
- Toronto Star
 Urban
World Vibe Film Festival - New York
New
York Human Rights Watch Film Festival
Seattle
International Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
Hot Docs - Toronto
Melbourne
Int’l Film Festival
BLACK GOLD and the Fair Trade Movement
In recent years, hundreds of activist organizations and faith
groups around the world, not to mention celebrities like Angelina
Jolie, Brad Pitt, Bono and Colin Firth, have taken up the cause
of fair trade and the plight of third-world coffee growers. Third
World producers and farmers have traditionally and consistently
received only a tiny fraction of the value of their products in
commodities markets. Fair Trade is grounded in the principle that,
contrary to the rapacious nature of the world markets and the indifference
of the WTO, these producers and farmers are entitled to a more equitable
share of these profits, and that goods fairly traded provide sustainable
benefits greater than those of foreign aid. Members of this movement
hold that commerce doesn’t have to mean exploitation.
October is Fair Trade Month, and the Fair Trade Movement has embraced
BLACK GOLD as a rallying point, recognizing the power of
the film to bring national attention to their cause. Some of the
most influential groups in the movement have already pledged their
support for the film, including Oxfam
America, which has become the film's principal NGO sponsor.
They will bring their grassroots expertise to bear in publicizing
the film and its message by organizing educational and social events
around the release in every major market in the country. Other organizations
providing resources in support of the film include Co-op America;
Global Exchange; Transfair; Equal Exchange; Seattle's Fair Trade
Puget Sound, a coalition of community groups, businesses, NGOs,
faith communities and students; and the New York City Fair Trade
Coalition. Read more: oxfamamerica.org.
Coffee Facts:
- Coffee is the largest trading commodity in the world after oil,
generating annual sales in excess of $80 billion dollars per year.
- Coffee is the most popular drink worldwide.
- Globally, about 2 billion cups of coffee are drunk every day.
- Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. 15 million people depend
on coffee for their survival.
- Ethiopia is also one of the poorest countries in the world.
- In the last few years the price of coffee has reached a thirty
year low.
- On average a coffee farmer receives less than 10 US cents for
a kilo of coffee.
- If Africa’s share of world trade increased by one percentage
point it would generate over $70 billion per year – five
times what the continent currently receives in aid.
Educators wishing to purchase a copy of this program should contact
California
Newsreel at www.newsreel.org
or call 877-811-7495. |
