Coffee is a multi-billion dollar industry that roasts on the backs of poor bean farmers, filters through the coffers of wealthy corporations, and percolates into a $5 latte. Focusing on the multinational market buying beans from Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, Black Gold follows Tadesse Meskela, the manager of a farmer's co-op, desperately trying to get a fair price for his beans to feed and clothe the growers so they don't have to turn to growing more lucrative narcotics. As he travels the globe pushing the benefits of Fair Trade, the film looks at the bigger picture of international trade agreements and the WTO. "Black gold is a nickname more commonly given to oil, another famously exploited natural resource that has been at the center of more than one war. This time out, the battle is over the world's second most actively traded commodity: coffee. And this passionate little film is here to convince you that educated consumers can decide who wins." (Boston Globe) more at blackgoldmovie.com Cosponsored with Gimme! Coffee and Cornell Coalition for Trade Justice. Fair Trade organic coffee served at both screenings!
2006, color, 1 hour 18 minutes, USA