The Fair Trade Movie Blog

Liberia hopes for “more trade, less aid” from Bush | Reuters

So, as President Bush meets with Liberian leaders, so will Anti-Body. And, although he might have more clout, Anti-Body is arriving in Liberia this week with a plan for starting a new co-op in Liberia, to produce fair-trade essential oils for A-B’s skincare line. Exciting! We’ll keep you posted as we get news from Tamara.

Also exciting: we are working on a few screenings in Hollywood, hopefully in April and May. Watch for announcements…

Okay, false advertising. I went to the Fair Trade Beer website, thinking I could order up a couple six packs, and found out about the plight of “Beer Girls” — or beer promotion women in Cambodia, who are employed by one brand of beer to sell nightly in the bars of Phnom Penh and other tourist cities. Their wages are low enough that prostitution oftentimes comes into the mix, and then disease, AIDS, and death. There is now a movement to ensure that these beer companies pay a fair wage to these women — as well as provide safer working conditions — so that these women can live, instead of be assured of dying quickly from disease.

I’ve been to Phnom Penh. It is a beautiful city, and I did not know about this situation while I was there. But the people are wonderful, and it is dismaying to know that large multinational alcohol companies have not stepped up to ensure the health and well-being of their employees.

What can we do? Contact the manufacturers, and ask them to change their practices.

This student in the UK ponders how to brand fairtrade products in a manner that reaches the target market, while being distinctive from every other brand, fairtrade or not.

In the film The Fair Trade, we really don’t get into what Anti-Body’s market would be, or how they market/position/advertise their products. It’s not what the movie is about. But Steve and Shelby do mention that, in some way, it doesn’t matter to the end user whether they’re buying fair trade skincare products or not — they just want high-end, quality products. (more…)

You don’t have to wait for a screening to come to you; The Fair Trade is available right now. The links are always over in the blogroll, but here they are again:

Purchase from FilmBaby

Purchase from Fuller Theological Seminary Bookstore

As we sign new distribution deals, we’ll let you know about those here also.

One of our producers, Grace, just had a beautiful (and very alert, from what I’ve heard) baby boy last night. Congratulations to their family, and we can’t wait to see what he’s going to be: a director? another producer? cinematographer?

We’ll post pictures if I have a chance.

Check this nice paper out: A Moral Defense of Fair Trade

Note that Mr. Mitterko makes the point that Fair Trade is not immediately attempting to solve macroeconomic issues; rather, Fair Trade circumvents the injustices handed to developing countries on the macroeconomic level by going straight to a “microeconomic” situation — a single producer — and developing a relationship with them that provides a true fair price for the goods produced.

This woman from the state of Washington goes into some interesting ideas about why Fair Trade actually comes closer to a truly competitive global market — giving producers who otherwise would be forced out of the market — by distance or social factors or government forces — a chance to compete on the same level as producers from developed countries that have fewer or no barriers to entry in the market.

As I unearth more research on this, I’ll post it.

Forgot to mention earlier that we have been selected for the Ashland Independent Film Festival, set to run April 3-7, 2008, up in Oregon. Congratulations to Lauralee and the entire team!

We’ll keep you updated as information about more festivals come in.

Remember to vote today. Don’t know who said it first, but “if you don’t vote, you can’t complain.”

Each screening just gets better and better.  Last night we packed the Castle Green out again, and the response has been fantastic. Watch your e-mail (and this blog) for upcoming screenings — we’re hoping to move to Hollywood next month for a few screenings.

This week I’m working on a post that will go more into the economics of fair-trade. Watch for that…