Life and Debt

(Good news. The film about the impact of neoliberalism in Jamaica 
that I reviewed a couple of weeks ago is scheduled to air on public 
television on Aug. 21. Don't miss it.)

http://www.itvs.org/pressroom/

July 13, 2001

LIFE AND DEBT Probes Effects of Economic Globalization and
IMF Policies on Jamaican People

A Close-Up Look at the Human Cost of Economic Development on
P.O.V. August 21, 2001

A Co-Presentation of the Independent Television Service (ITVS)

Jamaica is an island nation of stark contrasts - a dreamy 
tropical resort for most visitors, a land of grinding
poverty for many Jamaicans. It's quite easy, as revealed in
the new documentary LIFE AND DEBT, for vacationers from the
U.S. and Europe to enjoy the former while completely missing
the latter. Even easier to miss, as this film both documents
and dramatizes, is the growing bitterness of farmers, workers, 
and ordinary people in Jamaica and other developing nations
over the destructive impact of economic globalization on 
their lives and livelihoods.

Stephanie Black's LIFE AND DEBT premieres Tuesday, August
21, 2001 at 10 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings), as
part of the 2001 season of P.O.V., public television's
groundbreaking showcase of independent, non-fiction films.

LIFE AND DEBT is a moving account of the developing world
economy from the point of view of those most affected, and a
haunting evocation of the complex relationship between rich
nations and poor nations emerging under the rubric of
"globalization."

LIFE AND DEBT uses both documentary and dramatic techniques
to dissect the "mechanism of debt" that is destroying local
agriculture and industry in countries like Jamaica while
importing sweatshop jobs and cheap commodities. Narration
written by Jamaica Kincaid, adapted from her book "A Small
Place", is woven into the stories of Jamaican workers,
farmers, entrepreneurs, and government officials who find
their economic prospects deteriorating while local violence
is substantially increasing.

The film reveals a striking consensus among Jamaicans,
cutting across class lines, that their predicament is
squarely related to policies of such international
quasi-governmental economic institutions as the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and 
the Inter-American bank. These lending and development
institutions, dominated by the world's richest countries,
foremost the United States, extract a steep price from
developing nations that accept or refuse their aid.

Rather than be excluded from the world's dominant financial
and trade markets, developing nations, like Jamaica, are
compromised by the burden of debt, cutting social service
programs, producing for export rather than local consumption
and giving undue advantages to attract foreign investment.
Meeting payments on foreign debt becomes paramount at the
expense of primary human needs. The film illustrates how
Jamaicans view the escalating poverty among ordinary people
and a growing helplessness among all classes as results of
such policies.

Spokespeople for the IMF and World Bank, which have held
final say over the economy of Jamaica for a generation,
defend their policies as necessary for reforming the country
while ensuring it can meet its foreign debt obligations.
They claim that their policies of encouraging foreign
investment and lowering trade barriers are beginning 
to show benefits.

"It's a particular visual challenge to get across so 
much necessary information in a medium that is essentially
emotional," says filmmaker Black. "That's why we focused on
the day-to-day life, Jamaicans telling their own stories
about how IMF policies have affected their lives, and
introduced Jamaica Kincaid's wonderfully poetic and
passionately angry voice."

LIFE AND DEBT was awarded the Critics Jury Prize "Best Film
of the Festival" Honorable Mention Los Angeles Film Festival, 
April 2001. In addition, the film won the U.K'.s One World
Media Award 2001.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

STEPHANIE BLACK

Stephanie Black's credits include the feature-length
documentary, H-2 WORKER, which won both the Best Documentary
and Best Cinematography awards at the 1990 Sundance Film
Festival, and was the U.S. selection for the Critics Week 
at Cannes. Black also worked as chief researcher and second
unit director on the Robert Redford-produced feature
documentary, INCIDENT AT OGLALA. Her television credits
include over 50 documentary segments for SESAME STREET, and
documentary segments for Nickelodeon's U TO U, PBS's ZOOM,
and Cartoon Network's BIG BAG series. She has produced and
directed music videos for such artists as Ziggy Marley,
Banju Banton, Snow, Anthony B., and INOJ, as well as a
30-minute documentary on the making of the Bob Marley
tribute album, MAKING OF CHANT DOWN BABYLON. Black has
taught documentary filmmaking at the School of Visual 
Arts and Y/FVA in New York City.

CREDITS

Producer/Director: Stephanie Black
Editor: John Mullen
Camera: Malik Sayeed, Kyle Kibbe, Richard Lannaman and 
Alex Nepomniaschy

CO-PRESENTER

THE INDEPENDENT TELEVISION SERVICE

LIFE AND DEBT was produced in association with the
Independent Television Service with funds provided by the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Unique in American
Public Television, ITVS was established by Congress, "to
fund and promote programming that involves creative risks
and addresses the needs of underserved audiences," while
granting artistic control to independent producers. ITVS has
brought more than 250 single programs and limited series to
public television. Many of these ITVS programs have been
featured on P.O.V. including Sundance Grand Jury Prize
winner GIRLS LIKE US by Jane C. Wagner and Tina
DiFeliciantonio, Peabody Award winner A HEALTHY BABY GIRL 
by Judith Helfand and Emmy Award winner NOBODY'S BUSINESS 
by Alan Berliner.

P.O.V. INTERACTIVE

P.O.V. Interactive uses specially developed web sites 
and other new media tools to involve the public in the
exploration of issues raised by P.O.V. programming. Visitor
contributions become the essence of the site as personal
stories and perspectives are shared, and interaction 
is sustained long after a show is broadcast. Visit
<http://www.pbs.org/pov>. For press, P.O.V.'s web site
features press materials including: press releases, producer
fact sheets, festival and award information, press reaction
and camera-ready artwork. Please visit and see our web-only
artwork at <http://www.pbs.org/pov/pressroom>.

Major funding for P.O.V. is provided by the John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Endowment
for the Arts, PBS and public television viewers. Funding 
for Talking Back is provided by the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting. P.O.V. is presented by a consortium of public
television stations including KCET/Los Angeles, WGBH/Boston,
and WNET/New York. Cara Mertes is executive producer of
P.O.V. The series is produced by American Documentary, 
Inc. Ward Chamberlin is chief executive officer.

-30-

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-- 
Louis Proyect, lnp3@panix.com on 08/12/2001

Marxism list: http://www.marxmail.org