Paying the Price: Migrant Workers in the Toxic Fields of Sinaloa/Migrar o Morir
(English and Spanish w/English subtitles, 36:04
Paying the Price examines the impoverished lives of migrant workers from the town of Ayotzinapa, Guerrero. We follow them from their community to their lives as migrant workers in a large Sinaloa agribusiness camp, Buen Año, where they pick exotic Chinese vegetables for export to the US and Canada. We see the hardships faced by these workers in their community of origin, largely abandoned by the local and state governments to the inhumane and slave-like working conditions they encounter in Buen Año.
Through interviews with members of the community of Ayotzinapa, the owner of Buen Año and others involved in agribusiness in Sinaloa Paying the Price presents the polarized reality of how migrant workers are seen in Mexico: through the eyes of agribusiness these workers are merely an annoying, culturally backward necessity to be dealt with in order to reap their multi-million dollar profits. Members of the community speak about being forced to leave their community because of the lack of work in their region, constant illness and their inability to save enough money to sustain their families.
Festivals:
2009 Native American Film and Video Festival, New York City, NY US (March)
2009 Latin American Studies Association Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (June)
