2008 Woodie Awards
'Black Gold' documentary stirs coffee culture
Niketa Reed
Issue date: 4/2/08 Section: Life & Style
"For a three dollar cup of coffee, a farmer earns three cents," says the opening quote to the movie trailer. The quote refers to the exploits of Ethiopian coffee farmers filmed in the documentary "Black Gold," showing 7 p.m. tomorrow in the First Security Auditorium in Willard J. Walker Hall.
The documentary promises to take viewers from the cozy images of the coffee shop to impoverished farms in Ethiopia where coffee beans are known to be largely cultivated. "Black Gold" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and is an official selection at the Melbourne International, Rio De Janeiro International and London film festivals, according to film's Web site, www.blackgoodfilm.com.
Tadesse Meskela, the general manager of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Co-operative Union who is featured in the film, will hold a question and answer session following the showing. The presentation is sponsored by Café Bom Dia, a fair trade and organic coffee company, and the Applied Sustainability Center in the Sam M. Walton College of Business.
"We decided to make Black Gold after it was announced at the end of 2002 that Ethiopia was facing another famine," wrote co-directors and producers Nick and Marc Francis, according to a press release.
"Twenty years earlier, in 1984, people across the world had been motivated to respond to this crisis by giving aid. The difference this time was that Ethiopia coffee farmers, known for producing some of the best quality coffee in the world, were also caught up in this new food crisis. Given that the global coffee industry was booming, making record profits for the largest multi-nationals, we felt this was a story that had to be told," according to the written statement in the press release.
The film's Web site also urges consumers to "wake up and smell the coffee" by taking action, as it describes Meskela as "one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy."
The film portrays coffee as one of the leading trading commodities in the world after oil and strives to raise awareness about coffee farmers who have lost their fields because of the severely low prices paid for their coffee, according to the Web site.
"We believe, as part of our mission to educate businesses and the public about world sustainability issues, that this film will provide eye-opening insights into the coffee industry and a fairer trading system," said Michele Halsell, managing director of the Applied Sustainability Center in the press release. "Sustainability defined more broadly includes social impacts as well as environmental impacts."
Coffee has surpassed soft drinks as the most popular beverage after water, with the average retail price at $3.14 per pound in the latter part of 2006, according to the National Coffee Association of USA, Inc Web site.
Among the world leading coffee producers are Ethiopia, Columbia, Brazil, Mexico, Kenya, and Indonesia, according to The National Coffee Association of USA Web site.
The documentary promises to take viewers from the cozy images of the coffee shop to impoverished farms in Ethiopia where coffee beans are known to be largely cultivated. "Black Gold" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and is an official selection at the Melbourne International, Rio De Janeiro International and London film festivals, according to film's Web site, www.blackgoodfilm.com.
Tadesse Meskela, the general manager of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Co-operative Union who is featured in the film, will hold a question and answer session following the showing. The presentation is sponsored by Café Bom Dia, a fair trade and organic coffee company, and the Applied Sustainability Center in the Sam M. Walton College of Business.
"We decided to make Black Gold after it was announced at the end of 2002 that Ethiopia was facing another famine," wrote co-directors and producers Nick and Marc Francis, according to a press release.
"Twenty years earlier, in 1984, people across the world had been motivated to respond to this crisis by giving aid. The difference this time was that Ethiopia coffee farmers, known for producing some of the best quality coffee in the world, were also caught up in this new food crisis. Given that the global coffee industry was booming, making record profits for the largest multi-nationals, we felt this was a story that had to be told," according to the written statement in the press release.
The film's Web site also urges consumers to "wake up and smell the coffee" by taking action, as it describes Meskela as "one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy."
The film portrays coffee as one of the leading trading commodities in the world after oil and strives to raise awareness about coffee farmers who have lost their fields because of the severely low prices paid for their coffee, according to the Web site.
"We believe, as part of our mission to educate businesses and the public about world sustainability issues, that this film will provide eye-opening insights into the coffee industry and a fairer trading system," said Michele Halsell, managing director of the Applied Sustainability Center in the press release. "Sustainability defined more broadly includes social impacts as well as environmental impacts."
Coffee has surpassed soft drinks as the most popular beverage after water, with the average retail price at $3.14 per pound in the latter part of 2006, according to the National Coffee Association of USA, Inc Web site.
Among the world leading coffee producers are Ethiopia, Columbia, Brazil, Mexico, Kenya, and Indonesia, according to The National Coffee Association of USA Web site.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
tedster
posted 4/02/08 @ 3:22 PM CST
Too bad it's a good story but a weak work of documentary filmmaking/scriptwriting.
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