Black Gold

Starting with a cup of coffee, filmmakers Nick and Marc Francis retrace the chain of events that leads to our daily enjoyment of this delicious beverage. They take us on a journey from Ethiopian plantations, via coffee bean processing plants, all the way to factory warehouses. We follow the transformation of the coffee bean as it makes its way to world markets – onto the shelves of supermarkets, into the mouths of tasting experts, the paper cups of Starbucks and the designer china of gourmets in Italy. Along the way, we travel side by side with Tadesse Maskela, an African farmer who fights for the rights of Ethiopian coffee growers, striving to improve their standards of living. The film is an unsettling testimony to the way in which the prospering world market creates unfavourable conditions for those it depends on. It tells the story of impoverished farmers on the verge of bankruptcy, barely struggling to survive, as well as the story of rich businessmen, speculating with coffee prices, and other people's lives. Confronting two entirely disparate worlds, this film is an examination of the nature of the world economy, as well giving a tour of the various ways that different cultures enjoy their coffee, whether as a means of getting a quick fix of caffeine in the morning or as a delicate drink to be savoured. Discover the long hard road that every coffee bean has travelled so that you can enjoy the flavour of a delicious cup of coffee!