Black Gold

Black Gold doesn't shout at you, vilify any single corporation or government, or make you feel guilty about really liking coffee.

It does, however, invite you to see a very nuanced and sensitive view of an entire economic and social system that isn't working very well. This isn't "the anti-Starbucks movie" a la Supersize Me. This is a movie that starts the conversation about our trade system and the West's relationship with countries that feed us. Black Gold makes you want to get involved or inform yourself but doesn't map out exactly how, leaving it up to you. It isn't narrated by any off-screen voice overs and doesn't tell you exactly what to think.

I was fascinated to find out how coffee is grown and how small differences in price cause huge impact on farmers' families and communities. As a Washington, DC, resident I go out for Ethiopian food more than I order pizza, so I was glad to get a glimpse of what life is like in Ethiopia and how beautiful and lush the natural scenes are.

Please go see it because it's really enjoyable and thoughtful -- a refreshing new model for how to make a documentary.

I have to admit that I have been drinking coffee for forty years and I will be drinking coffee when I finally give up the ghost. I found this story to be so exciting, but also sad. I really enjoyed seeing the process of coffee growing, roasting and sale, but I was totally distressed at the fact that a cup of coffee sells for 25 times what the farmers in Ethopia get for growing it. It is further distressing that a small increase in the amount paid would make tremendous effect on their lives. They just want to educate their children and buy them a pair of shoes. Paying them a fair price would probably not increase what we pay for a pound of coffee in a measurable way, but it would make all the difference in the world to them. What is the alternative? They are now growing plants used as a narcotic in East Africa because they cannot get a fair price for coffee. The shame is not on them, but on us. This was a great film and the only criticism I could ever make about it was that it was not in Indonesia, where they make my favorite Sulawese coffee.

I saw Black Gold last night in JIFFEST (Jakarta International Film Festival). It attracted me in 2 ways i couldn't predict before. First, it invited me to think of the source of what seems familiar to me, namely, the cup of coffee sold by one of those MNC's listed in the film. Second, it just struck me (dumbfoundedly) at how fair trade is not an abstract issue discussed within the air conditioned walls and have no impact whatsoever with my life and other poor farmers in Ethiopia.

I just kept guessing, whether this film could be watched by coffee drinkers here in Indonesia, and whether, with sufficient guidance by experts in coffee production and trading, they would come to a higher level of awareness to stir consumers' action to protect their own country's coffee farmers from the cruel mechanism of unfair trade in such a global scale.

I enthusiastically recommend this film 9 out of 10!

I watched this film tonight in an advance screening at Georgia Tech. The documentary follows a cooperative in Oromia, Ethiopia and its attempts to gain a better price for its farmers. Contrasting the rich urban life of the consumer with the impoverished rural life of the producer, the truth is staggering: The premium price paid by consumers at the counter goes almost entirely to corporations and only pennies on the dollar to the farmer. The farmers don't seek luxuries or to extort consumers, only to be paid and treated fairly and equitably, to dull the edge on their harsh lifestyle. The larger plight of Africans is broached as is world trade of Third World exports. It was extremely refreshing that there was no attempt to preach nor use emotional tricks as are found in many large release documentaries, instead allowing the facts to speak for themselves. This dryness adds both to its authenticity and its credibility.

Unfortunately, no film is perfect. The filmmakers criticize Starbucks for not purchasing Ethiopian fair trade coffee without the context that the company is one of the few purchasers of fair trade coffee from Central and South America. While their actions can improve, they are significantly ahead of other companies with whom they compete. Also, the film displays too many scenes without the context required: "What are we seeing?" The story is an important one but more depth could have been given and a larger spotlight shone on the participants. Even with these flaws, it is a very worthwhile documentary and may give people their first glimpses into the world outside their borders.

7 out of 10: Truth is vicious when you are guarded by lies.

If I may begin with a quote from The Wire I will because, when considering this film the phrase "all the pieces matter" did come to my mind. The film presents itself as another in a recent line of documentaries that very much appeal to people of my demographic because it puts an unacceptable situation in front of us and challenges the way we live our lives and allow our lives to be lived. In the case of Black Gold, the subject is coffee and, as a "fair trade" buyer of some time I was looking to have my opinion of the subject informed.

The structure of the film looks at coffee in Ethiopia, Seattle, London and so on as it paints a picture of situation where what the growers get paid is a shameful pittance compared to the amount the western coffee drinker would pay for even a home-made cup from granules. It should be shockingly compelling stuff and I was astonishing to find that it was not at all like this. It is maybe a failing in the structure because the makers seem to have had great access to the subject through Tadessa Meskela, who leads a cooperative of Ethiopian coffee farmers. This does mean that we spend too much time at his level and seeing things with his eyes, which works but is not the best way of carrying the film. Of course this needs to be part of it but it is almost the all.

What it badly needed was a much wider view. OK the corporations unsurprisingly did not wish to take part in this film but it badly needs some evidence of them and their role in the pricing. Without this focus the film doesn't really offer many answers or present a driver for the terrible situations it lets us see. To some viewers I'm sure this will be praise worthy because a documentary need not be about emotion and banging a drum but this does not mean it needs to be lacking in heart just because it is not a Michael Moore polemic. The lack of heart does not come from the subject but rather the delivery; it is a bit all over the place and I'm not entirely sure what some section were designed to achieve – a tasting in Starbucks seems like time wasted in an already short run time.

Overall then this is a so-so film but given the subject and the plight of the growers, even the kindest viewer would admit this film is more missed potential than delivery. Positive reviews tend to praise it for its intension and I do not begrudge them this. The proof though, is in the pudding and that is where the film should be judged. Sadly it is poorly structure and doesn't ever get a handle on the subject in a way that isn't that compelling or challenging – and considering everything that is a shocking failure.