Carmo do Rio Verde, Brazil, is a village that depends on sugar cane exploitation. The company that processes the sugar cane into alcohol owns the fields or rents them and employs 2000 workers, of which 1200 are seasonal workers hired by 'El Gato', 'The Cat'. Thanks to his promises - a nice salary and a fine shelter - he gets a 4% cut out of everyone's salary… The work starts - and exploitation with it. Amidst sweat and ashes, the film poetically reveals the human price of Brazil's fortune, its 'clean' fuel…
A verdade do gato
Localized Title
[The cat's truth]
Genre
Documentary
Country
Belgium
Year
2006
Duration
52'
Production Companies
Trikolon Productions
Director's Notes
Director's Notes
«Working 11-hour shifts, 1200 Brazilian seasonal workers harvest sugar cane for making organic fuel. Living twelve to a room, far from their families, their plight is unmasked modern slavery. Tiao, a young father, writes his wife short letters about his situation; the letters are accompanied by ravishing never-seen shots of sugar cane ablaze before harvesting, smoke filling the air and clinging to the workers' faces and lungs. But all that doesn't matter as long as the fuel meets ecological standards...».
Geographical areas and populations
Geographical areas and populations
A visual environmental guide showing the global health status and the transition of local crises to global emergencies, country by country, area by area, and continent by continent.
Food on Film project
Partners
In collaboration with
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Creative Europe Media Program. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.