‘Black Gold' is ASC's pick at the 2007 Pan-African Film Festival. Screening will include Q&A session followed by a demonstration of Ethiopian coffee ceremony.

Saturday, February 10, 2007
2:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Magic Johnson Theaters
3650 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
(1 block west of Crenshaw Blvd.)
Los Angeles, CA 90008

Film Synopsis

Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil. But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.

Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.

Against the backdrop of Tadesse's journey to London and Seattle, the enormous power of the multinational players that dominate the world's coffee trade becomes apparent. New York commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges, and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organization reveal the many challenges Tadesse faces in his quest for a long term solution for his farmers.

Film screening in the Magic Johnson Theatres
Screening time: 2:20pm
Ticket price: $7.50

A special Q&A session will follow screening.

Guests are also invited to a demonstration of the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony at the PAFF Gallery at 4pm. Free and open to the public
PAFF Gallery
3775 Santa Rosalia Dr. (across the parking lot from Magic Johnson Theatres)

Ample free parking

Coffee ceremoney is free and open to the public.

Cost : $7.50 for Film (coffee ceremony free)

www.international.ucla.edu/africa

Sponsor(s): African Studies Center, Pan African Film Festival