In 2007, Tom Shevory asked me to be a discussant at the FLEFF screening of BLACK GOLD (2006) in the old Cinemapolis theater. At that time, I was part of the regular crew of Ithaca College faculty who screened FLEFF films in our courses. And, I had gone to many FLEFF screenings. But this was going to be my first experience speaking at a FLEFF event at Cinemapolis.
Given my experiences with FLEFF, I figured that whenever Tom or Patty Zimmermann asked me to do something, I should definitely say yes. As it turned out, I was right.
Standing in the front of a jam-packed audience that had just watched one of the best documentary films yet made about the devastation of global capitalism was incredibly exciting. In my memory the room was abuzz!
BLACK GOLD focuses on the power that cooperatives can have in their fierce fight for survival against global financialization and unchecked oligopolies. The film follows Tadesse Meskela, the head of a very large Ethiopian coffee cooperative, as he traces the global value chain of coffee production, distribution, roasting, and retailing.
BLACK GOLD brilliantly illustrates the blatant inequities generated from empire in scenes that feature the World Trade Organization, the NY Stock Exchange, and the coffee connoisseur. We see the farmers in their dignity and desperation as well as the looking away of global retailers when coffee producers are facing famine.
Above all, the film shows the power generated from the hard work of running a cooperative of 74,000 coffee farmers. The courage of African trade representatives standing up to Europe and American corporate lobbyists is an inspirational sight.
