A lot of fun.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

When you sip on that aromatic cup of coffee, do you think about where it all comes from? 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed on an average day, and I'm sure many of us have contributed our daily cuppas to that statistic as shared by the documentary Black Gold by Marc and Nick Francis. From the ordinary black coffee at the local coffeeshop, to gourmet, fanciful concoctions at the nearest Starbucks (there's this new banana mix in town now), Black Gold takes you on a journey of the world's coffee trade, from the consumers right down to the farmers who toil their fields to give us those beans.But who makes the most out of this trade? The multicorporations of course, fingered and identified in this film as money grabbers. We are taken on a tour of the vast coffee fields in Ethiopia, and Tadesse Meskela is our guide, as he shows us the conditions that the farmers have to work with, and the meagre amounts of money they are making to make ends meet, while the rest of the world gulps our coffee, parting with a few dollars while they make less than a cent. The demand and supply mechanics seem to be imbalanced, no doubt with prices made artificially high on the commodities trader market in New York and London, with none trickling down to the tail end for the suppliers.Tadesse Meskela's objective is to band the farmers around a co-operative so as to be able to negotiate better prices. They're not on a mission to make prices rocket, but just a few dollars more would improve the livelihood of the farmers tremendously, and to enable their children to have decent education. It's also about the attempts to remove the multi-layered middleman chain (up to 6 links), and I've always been a proponent to eradicate the middle sections because unless they value add, there's no point swelling the pockets of those who does what I deem a "postman's job".There are a few points which provides starking contrasts between the haves and have nots. What I thought was sly, was the showcasing of Starbucks, its first outlet and its star performers raving about how much opportunity they have etc, versus the source of Starbuck's coffee from Ethiopia, where massive famine is experienced by those in that region. I guess in a capitalist world, those who have money will continue to exploit, and will continue doing so as long as the bottomline is not affected.However, Black Gold lacked that strike in that emotional chord. It's pure "here's the problem" without offering much, loaded with clinical facts and figures printed on screen. While it showed how difficult the folks down the supply chain are having, that's basically it. We're the clueless consumers as depicted in the documentary who couldn't care less, and that basically summed it up, given its lack of that final sucker punch to ring the message home.

Black Gold doesn't shout at you, vilify any single corporation or government, or make you feel guilty about really liking coffee.It does, however, invite you to see a very nuanced and sensitive view of an entire economic and social system that isn't working very well. This isn't "the anti-Starbucks movie" a la Supersize Me. This is a movie that starts the conversation about our trade system and the West's relationship with countries that feed us. Black Gold makes you want to get involved or inform yourself but doesn't map out exactly how, leaving it up to you. It isn't narrated by any off-screen voice overs and doesn't tell you exactly what to think.I was fascinated to find out how coffee is grown and how small differences in price cause huge impact on farmers' families and communities. As a Washington, DC, resident I go out for Ethiopian food more than I order pizza, so I was glad to get a glimpse of what life is like in Ethiopia and how beautiful and lush the natural scenes are.Please go see it because it's really enjoyable and thoughtful -- a refreshing new model for how to make a documentary.

A insightful and disturbing look at the inner workings of the coffee industry. This should be required viewing for anyone that takes a sip of coffee after the release of the movie. A great piece of journalism that bluntly demonstrates the inequality and poverty of growers as shown through the Ethiopian farmers.I can only hope that visibility from this movie prompts something other than defensiveness from the multinationals. Do what you can to see this movie.Also interesting is the demographic breakdown of IMDb voting in the United States versus outside as well as with males 45+ - take a look.

I watched this film tonight in an advance screening at Georgia Tech. The documentary follows a cooperative in Oromia, Ethiopia and its attempts to gain a better price for its farmers. Contrasting the rich urban life of the consumer with the impoverished rural life of the producer, the truth is staggering: The premium price paid by consumers at the counter goes almost entirely to corporations and only pennies on the dollar to the farmer. The farmers don't seek luxuries or to extort consumers, only to be paid and treated fairly and equitably, to dull the edge on their harsh lifestyle. The larger plight of Africans is broached as is world trade of Third World exports. It was extremely refreshing that there was no attempt to preach nor use emotional tricks as are found in many large release documentaries, instead allowing the facts to speak for themselves. This dryness adds both to its authenticity and its credibility.Unfortunately, no film is perfect. The filmmakers criticize Starbucks for not purchasing Ethiopian fair trade coffee without the context that the company is one of the few purchasers of fair trade coffee from Central and South America. While their actions can improve, they are significantly ahead of other companies with whom they compete. Also, the film displays too many scenes without the context required: "What are we seeing?" The story is an important one but more depth could have been given and a larger spotlight shone on the participants. Even with these flaws, it is a very worthwhile documentary and may give people their first glimpses into the world outside their borders.7 out of 10: Truth is vicious when you are guarded by lies.