[Marc and Nick, makers of Black Gold, at Arclight Hollywood]

Rest assured — UK peeps drink coffee too. Marc and Nick, makers of Black Gold, are like some serious coffee dudes, who especially like Union Coffee Roasters and Cafe Direct (both fair trade focused roasters in the UK).

A telling snippet from our convo.

Nick: Do you do this [blogging] full-time?

Me: No, no — I’m also a grad student. I just came from reading the Iliad.

Nick: ???

Me: The Iliad.

Nick: ???

Me: You know — Homer.

Nick: Oh! I though you were saying Illy ad.

I got to the Arclight to chat with Marc and Nick at 2 pm, well after the 11:50 showing of Black Gold ended — and these boys were STILL talking with the people who’d seen their film!

Then, I talked their ears off until like a quarter to 6.

Anyway — One viewer was Mesai, an Angeleno of Ethiopian descent, who several times reiterated how refreshing it was to see a film about Ethiopia that actually talked about Ethiopia in a manner that was intelligent and not paternalizing.

“We finally see an Ethiopian hero,” Mesai said, referring to Tadesse, the Ethiopian coffee dude featured in Black Gold who travels all over the world trying to get a fair deal for the farmers he respresents.

Marc sez he sees 2 major populations that we can get out to the theaters to support Black Gold: (1) Fair trade coffee advocates, and (2) People with a link to Ethiopia.

True, true — But really, anyone who drinks coffee — or really, anyone who’s a consumer of products that come as a result of world trade (yes, all of us) — should see Black Gold.

More from the interview with the filmmakers this weekend — I’m still trying to digest and unpack. But like I said in the last post — I’ll be at the Arclight this Sunday at 3:40 pm to see the film again (go here for other showtimes). Be there with me!

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