October 9, 2009
Robert Gill Theatre, 214 College Street, Third Floor
4:00-5:30 Documentary Screening
5:30-6:00 Open discussion
SHORT SYNOPSIS
Just a few miles inland from the tourist-filled beaches of the Dominican Republic, hidden from view, thousands of dispossessed Haitians have toiled under armed-guard harvesting sugarcane, much of which ends up in U.S. kitchens. They work grueling hours and frequently lack decent housing, clean water, electricity, education or healthcare. “The Price of Sugar” follows Father Christopher Hartley, a charismatic Spanish priest, as he organizes some of this hemisphere’s poorest people, challenging powerful interests profiting from their work. The Vicini family which owns some of the sugar plantations on which the film was shot has filed a lawsuit against the filmmakers in an attempt to block the film’s release. This film raises key questions about where the products we consume originate and at what human cost they are produced.
This documentary is presented as part of The Commodification of Illicit Flows: Labour Migration, Trafficking and Business conference.
Please visit www.utoronto.ca/cdts for more details on the documentary and the conference.
