Black Gold (2006 film)

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Black Gold is a 2006 documentary directed by Marc James Francis and Nick Francis. It follows Tadesse Meskela, head of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, as he travels from Ethiopia to push for higher prices for his members’ coffee and to cut out middlemen by connecting directly with buyers in Europe and the United States. The film highlights Ethiopian coffee growers in Sidamo and Oromia, including a cooperative in Borena, and shows the difficult lives of farmers, some who pray for better prices and others who switch to khat because of low coffee prices. It contrasts these struggles with scenes from the global coffee trade, including the New York commodity market, and with visits to early Starbucks locations, the World Barista Championship, and Illy in Italy, illustrating the gap between wealth in the coffee industry and poverty among farmers.

Production began in 2003, with filming in Ethiopia and at the WTO talks in Cancun. After a rough cut, more filming occurred in 2005, and the final cut premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006. The soundtrack was composed by Andreas Kapsalis using Ethiopian samples. Black Gold was released in many countries and shown on TV around the world, and it helped raise awareness and drive real-world impact: donations funded a school, Meskela spoke at 10 Downing Street and at the UN, and the film influenced trade discussions at the World Bank and the European Union. Starbucks drew extra attention to the film, inviting the producers to Seattle, though an internal memo criticizing the film’s accuracy later leaked to the press.