Black Gold: The Coffee Business
47 mins, 2007 Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate an industry worth over $80 billion. But what price are African farmers paying for the price of our coffee? THE CO-OP: Tadesse Meskela is a man on a mission: to save 74,000 struggling Ethiopian coffee farmers from bankruptcy. Tadesse is… Read more »
Amazon: The Logging Wars
25 mins, 2008 It’s been called the lungs of the earth. But the Amazon is also a lawless jungle, where criminals and profiteers plunder the forest for its riches. Communities are battling to stop loggers stripping the rainforest of its ancient timber, but many people depend on revenue from the illegal trade. The result is… Read more »
Cola Conquest II: How Coke Took Over The World
39 mins, 2008 This award-winning film tells the story of how Coca-Cola became the world’s most famous multinational company and follows its quest to be the globe’s number one beverage. HOW IT STARTS: The Second World War prompts Coke’s global expansion as every US soldier gets a bottle of Coke for five cents. Bottling plants… Read more »
Fair Trade In Action
29 mins, 2008 What is fair trade? How does it work in practice? What difference is it making to people in the developing world? This is the story of fair trade fashion company People Tree SWEATSHOP LABOUR: The UK fashion business is worth over £40 billion annually. But beneath the industry’s glamorous façade, there’s an… Read more »
Impact Of Globalisation 1: Bhutan
31 mins, 2008 Globalisation is having a huge impact on countries across the world – but not all countries have bought into the consumerist dream. This film is about Bhutan – a country pursuing an alternative economic path. HAPPINESS: Bhutan is a tiny country in the Himalayas bordering on China and India. Until recent years… Read more »
UPDATE: Too Much Tourism? The Lake District
50 mins, 2016 [wpdm_package id=’5110′] This updates the original 1996 film, going back to the original issues and finding out the new ones. The Lake District is one of Britain’s most popular tourist honeypots. The basic challenge: how to encourage tourists without spoiling the natural beauty they come to see. MAN-MADE VERSUS NATURAL The speed… Read more »
China’s Pollution Busters
31 mins, 2009 China’s rapid industrialisation has come at a heavy price – polluted waterways and huge health problems. This film follows two Chinese environmentalists risking threats and violence to locate the factories polluting their water. CHONGQING: The film begins in Chongqing, one of China’s new mega cities, home to six million people, and a… Read more »
The Great Firewall Of China
20 mins, 2009 Shanghai – on the face of it, a slick, modern, outward-looking city. But when it comes to the internet, as with much else in China, it seems the Government is in control. This film explores how China is trying to censor the web, but also how some Chinese people are finding ways… Read more »
Impact Of Globalisation 2: USA, China & Europe
42 mins, 2009 Three films look at how people in countries around the world are feeling the bitter effects of globalisation – from Europe and the USA to China. USA: Detroit, the city of Motown music and big cars is turning into an industrial wasteland. When the car industry was booming Detroit was the fifth… Read more »
Pig Business: The Cost of Cheap Food
30 mins, 2009 In this shocking and provocative film, Tracy Worcester sets out to discover who’s paying the true price for the cheap pork for sale in Britain’s supermarkets. WHERE IT ALL STARTED: Industrialised pig farming was pioneered in America, and it’s the way most supermarket pork is produced. Critics here argue the factory farms… Read more »
The Power Of A Multinational
30 mins, 2010 Are people right to fear the spread of genetically modified crops? This powerful documentary tells the story of one farmer who takes a stand against the massive multinational Monsanto. THE BATTLE: Representatives from the multinational company Monsanto visit Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser and demand he surrender his canola crops. Percy refuses and… Read more »
Responsible Corporations?
23 mins, 2010 Multinational companies are aggressively marketing cigarettes to young people in developing countries, with tragic social costs. This film explores the case of Indonesia – the third largest market for tobacco products in the world. HUMAN COSTS: “If I’d known I’d get this disease I would have quit a long time ago.” Ujang… Read more »