Coffee. A sackful of power

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Description

Coffee ranks second only to oil as the most important raw material on the world market. It has shaped the economies, history and social structure of a large part of Latin America. Composed of archival photographs, old newsreels and penetrating interviews, this documentary takes a broad view of the influence of coffee through the ages. First introduced in the eighteenth century, coffee is now the most popular drink in the world after water. South America supplies 66% of the world production, although most of the profits go to traders and speculators outside the region. The film explains the difference between the Brazilian and Costa Rican system of production, and why the Brazilian system has led to such poverty. Mechanization of farms has thrown many rural laborers out of work, an explosive situation in a country where one percent of the population owns 46% of the land. Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias and economist Celso Furtado analyze the market forces that affect coffee prices. An important film for economics and Latin American studies.