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Documentary about
the global coffee trade to be shown in Cape Town
Other Topics:
Coffee Charity Promotion,
Coffee Production,
Coffee Market
Black Gold
March 10, 2008
Black Gold, a beautifully shot documentary that explores
the story behind the billion dollar industry which get's
the world going every morning will be shown at the Labia
on Orange cinema in Cape Town on Sunday 30 March at
6.15pm, on Monday 31 March at 8:30pm and on Tuesday 1
April at 8:30pm.
Few of us ever consider what it takes to get that
precious cup of coffee onto our breakfast tables every
morning. You may be interested enough to know that the
beans came from Jamaica, Colombia or Indonesia, but did
you know that coffee is the most valuable trading
commodity in the world after oil and that multinational
companies dominate the global coffee industry which is
worth over $80 billion.
While we continue to enjoy our daily lattes and
cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers is so low
that many have been forced to abandon their coffee
fields and are facing bankruptcy. Nowhere is this
paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of
coffee. Black Gold dramatically juxtaposes the abject
poverty of Ethiopian coffee growers with the luxurious
coffee-house culture of the affluent First World.
It tells the story of Tadesse Meskela who travels the
globe in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair
price for the 74 000 struggling Ethiopian coffee farmers
he represents. Against the backdrop of Tadesse's journey
to London and Seattle, the enormous power of the
multinational players that dominate the world's coffee
trade becomes apparent. New York commodity traders, the
international coffee exchanges, and the double dealings
of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation
reveal the many challenges Tadesse faces in his quest
for a long term solution for his farmers.
If you are a coffee drinker, you owe it to yourself and
to the millions of poor coffee farmers around the world
to find out more about your favourite brew. Do you buy
Fair Trade coffee? Did the people who grew the beans for
your last cuppa get a good enough price to make a decent
living for themselves and their families? Watch Black
Gold and hear their story.
For more information consult the official Black Gold
website: www.blackgoldmovie.com
The screenings will be followed by a facilitated
audience discussion. Tickets are R20 and can be reserved
by calling The Labia at (021) 424 5927. Reserving
tickets is strongly recommended to avoid disappointment.
This event is presented by The Labia and While You Were
Sleeping, a Cape Town-based non-profit film collective
committed to bringing progressive, non-mainstream
documentaries with important social and environmental
messages to South African audiences. |
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