by Jill DeDominicis
Coffee. Some of us can't even think about functioning in the morning without it. Others need to fuel up multiple times a day just to make it through the working hours. Still others center social exchanges and events around it, sipping and enjoying coffee while catching up with old friends, checking out the artwork of locals or listening to spoken word and open mic nights. As Starbucks and other cafés continue to spring up on just about every corner throughout the country, coffee continues to dominate the world trade market. An industry worth over $80 billion, coffee is one of the world's most valuable trading commodities, after oil.
But while we take pleasure in everything from our simple coffee, black, to our pricey double-shot-espresso-macchiatos-with-soymilk, the money paid to coffee farmers around the world remains such that many have been forced to abandon their very livelihood. This is the foundation of Director and Producers Marc and Nick Francis' latest film, Black Gold, a documentary about the social implications and global repercussions of one of America's favorite beverages.
In 2002, the filmmakers traveled to Ethiopia, one of the birthplaces of coffee and one of the places hardest hit by the fluctuating global coffee market.
Thousands of coffee farming families––who were once the backbone of the country (coffee comprises 67 percent of Ethiopia's export income)––were now facing bankruptcy in the midst of Ethiopia's famine. Marc and Nick Francis wanted to “urgently remind audiences that through just one cup of coffee, we are inextricably connected to the livelihoods of millions of people around the world who are struggling to survive.”
In Ethiopia's capital, the filmmakers met Tadesse Meskela, manager of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Co-Operative Union. Representing over 74,000 farmers and their extended families, Meskela is impassioned in his quest to improve the lives of the farmers he represents, and tirelessly travels the world, looking to bypass the international trading system by seeking out buyers who will pay a higher price for his farmers' high quality coffee.
As Black Gold follows Meskela on his journey to London and Seattle, viewers are exposed to the power players of the industry––New York commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges, and trade ministers at the World Trade Organization (WTO)––and the obstacles Meskela faces in his attempt for a sustainable solution. While the film centers around Meskela's efforts over the course of two and a half years, Black Gold speaks of a larger problem apparent within the world trade system, one also affecting millions of producers of other commodities, such as bananas and chocolate. After the first shoot in Ethiopia, filmmakers and crew flew to Cancun to film WTO meetings regarding international trade rules. Here, African ministers packed in the conference, calling for an end to subsidies that crippled developing countries' abilities to compete within the international market. They reveal a shocking and sobering statistic: An increase of just 1 percent in the continent's share of world trade would generate $70 billion per year––five times more than what the continent currently receives in aid.
Although Starbucks and all other major coffee companies that the filmmakers approached for interview––Proctor & Gamble, Sara Lee, Kraft and Nestle––declined invitations to be interviewed for Black Gold, the film still manages to frame the coffee farmers' stories within the context of the western coffee-loving world. With juxtaposing scenes of workers––who are paid less than 50 cents a day to harvest beans––to scenes in a Starbucks outlet and upscale coffee-tasting competitions, the film adeptly illustrates the thread between the producing and consuming worlds. Clearly, it is time for everyone to, as they say, wake up and smell the coffee.
Black Gold opens January 12th, 2007 at Laemmle Theater's GRANDE 4-PLEX, located on 345 S. Figueroa St., in downtown Los Angeles, CA 90071. For prices and times, go to www.laemmle.com or call 213/617-0268. Educational institutions can acquire a DVD copy of Black Gold through U.S. distributor California Newsreel, www.newsreel.org.