Bree'sFilmAnnotation6

Bree Mobley, Annotation #6 “Black Gold” 22 November 2011 1198 words

“Black Gold”, directed by Marc and Nick Francis, released in 2006

“Black Gold” is a documentary film that provides an in-depth look at the world of coffee and its position in global trading markets. Coffee has become such a culture and social commodity that it has become the most traded product following only crude oil. However, despite the increased demand of coffee, the coffee bean farmers in Ethiopia live in absolute poverty. The film follows the mission of Tadesse Meskala, the head of a union of coffee farmers, as he travels in search of buyers willing to pay a fair price.

The argument is presented on top of the journey of Tadesse Meskala. In his travelling efforts, the viewer is exposed to the demand of coffee throughout the world, not just in affluent countries, but in third world countries as well. Meskala is the general manager of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Co-operative Union, representing 101 co-operatives. Established in 1999, the Oromia Coffee Farmers Co-operative Union works to ensure that coffee farmers can retain the huge sums of money being paid out for the services of middlemen and exporters. The film goes to Ethiopia with Meskala to highlight his life and how his background inspired his life’s work. The film talks with some of the coffee farmers that Meskala represents. Most of the farmers did not know that the price of coffee in the countries they sell to is so high; one cup of Starbucks coffee costs upwards of $3.00. Whereas, the price the farmers are being paid for that coffee is a fraction of what is being charged. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only international organization that handles the global rules of trade between nations. In the film, a WTO daily trading practices was shown along with a WTO conference called the world trade talks. Subsidies are a defining issue for the WTO; richer countries can subsidize their farmers thus making it impossible for developing countries to compete in the world market. Also, because of subsidies in other countries, it limits the Ethiopian farmers and other coffee growing countries from diversifying into another cash crop like cotton. Also, the WTO trade rules allow wealthy countries to apply high tariff barriers on finished products coming from poorer countries. This eliminates the possibility of having packaging and roasting production within countries like Ethiopia. Poor countries have to continue to export their raw coffee beans, preventing them from capturing more of the value chain from a roasted packet of coffee. Poor countries continue to fall subject to the rules of the WTO and the cheap prices middlemen and exporters are willing to pay. The film definitely brought on an emotional response. You really began to identify with Tadesse Meskala’s mission, especially as you saw him interact with his farmers and as he searched for smaller companies willing to pay a fair price for the coffee his union was providing. Tadesse mentions that the coffee from Ethiopia is some of the best coffee in the world, yet the farmers live in absolute poverty. The film showed their families living in very rural conditions, struggling to feed their large families, and unable to send all their children to school.

The film draws out political, economic, organizational, and cultural sustainability problems. The part of the film I found most compelling was the knowledge disconnect amongst the Ethiopian coffee farmers. When Tadesse stood around and asked them what they thought the price of a cup of coffee was, they were not aware of the inflated prices in richer countries. It was compelling mostly because I was also unaware of the conditions of coffee farmers in developing countries. The farmers are forced to sell their unroasted coffee beans for cheap because they have no other choice. Due to exporters controlling the coffee market, they are only selling to one person who can, in turn, control the entire market. Also, I found it compelling that the farmers could not preform the roasting and packaging of their coffee because of the high tariffs allowed via the WTO. Now, I understand that wealthier countries are not responsible for the well-being of the poorer countries they buy raw materials from. But it seems reasonable to assume that the WTO, established to provide fair international trading agreements, would take on that responsibility.

My least favorite part of the movie was the barista competition shown and also the interview with the store manager of the first Starbucks in Seattle, Washington. It was important to show the importance of coffee in American and European culture, however, I feel that these two scenes distracted from the overall feeling of the movie. In addition, neither the competing barista from Canada nor the newly appointed general manager of Starbucks was aware of the objective of the film. They spoke very honestly and proudly of their passions and careers, but I would have preferred to hear their opinion of the inequalities of the trading agreements that allow them access to such good coffee.

The film addressed an audience of coffee drinkers worldwide. It highlights the cultural importance of coffee in wealthy countries and poor countries. The film really reaches a broad audience because it does not provide a concrete solution to this issue of black gold. If a solution was provided, it could have swayed the audience to have a more common opinion. I think the people most likely to watch this film are coffee drinkers who are concerned with where their product comes from. So that does not mean every coffee drinker.

To add to the education value of the film, I would have liked to have been provided more information on the background and basis of the WTO rules and how and when exactly they were established. The film’s scene of the trading and the WTO conference was confusing at times and the interviews that were set up were not very informative in relation to the concept of the film.

The film is intentionally set up to not provide a solution. This allows for a broader audience and also freedom to search for a solution on your own. In the film, Tadesse Meskala says the only way to change anything is to provide knowledge of what’s going on. I feel this is the first step to a feasible solution; if consumers are aware of the injustices experienced by the farmers of their products, then they can begin to demand a change in their market.

Upon watching the film, I was compelled to look up the film website. The website provided additional information about the producers and Tadesse. I also found the coffee calculator particularly interesting. What it did was tell you what percentage of profits goes to who when you purchase your favorite coffee drink. I also researched the Oromia Coffee Farmers Co-operative Union and found out that this particular union, after the movie, was fairly successful in providing its farmers a fair price for their coffee. But the success of Oromia is not typical, there are many more farmers in Ethiopia experiencing poverty due to unfair prices on their coffee beans.