Mardi Gras: Made in China•film & discussion on Chinese sweatshop labor February 22, 2007

MARDI GRAS: MADE IN CHINA
(Directed by David Redmon, 2006,
74 minutes, feature documentary on DVD)

Doors at 6pm, screening promptly at 6:30pm. Discussion to follow.
Free for all ages

http://www.mardigrasmadeinchina.com

(Part of Penn Witness Week 2007*. See below)

This award winning documentary swiftly follows the path of Mardi Gras beads from the naked streets of New Orleans during Carnival – where revelers party 24/7 – to the disciplined factories in Fuzhou, China – where teenage laborers live and thread beads 24/7.

Told with humor and curiosity, Mardi Gras: Made in China provides a balanced global connection by introducing workers and revelers to each other through a disposable commodity: Mardi Gras beads.

Winner of 18 domestic (U.S.) and International awards; Nominated for Grand Jury Prize — Sundance Film Festival

REVIEWS

"A startling look at both the effects of globalization and at a dramatic cultural divide, the film contrasts the lives of the Chinese, hard workers who are forced to make serious sacrifices at very young ages, with indulgent Americans intent on having a good time and seemingly at ease with their lack of awareness." - Laura Kerns, New York Times

"Mardi Gras: Made in China" is a thought-provoking, canny piece of filmmaking that puts flesh, blood and garish multicolored baubles on the skeleton of globalization." - Michael Ordona, Los Angeles Times

"Redmon's sly, engrossing documentary is an expert riposte to smug proponents of globalization. Thomas Friedman and your fellow flat-earthers! Watch this movie!" - Jessica Winter, The Village Voice

"[S]tark contrast between rowdy Mardi Gras street scenes in Big Easy and grueling working conditions in Fuzhou, China. "Mardi Gras: Made in China" seems designed overall to spark informed debate about exploitative aspects of globalization." - Joe Leydon, Variety

*
Witness Week is Penn's annual human rights awareness week. It is a collaborative event, hosted by several human rights groups on campus, including:

Social Welfare Action Alliance (School of Social Policy and Practice), PennSid, LiNK, PennforChoice, PennforLife, Amnesty Intl., Six-Directions, Oxfam, Unicef, STAND, SCAH, Mex@Penn, Penn ACLU, HEC
http://www.witnessweek.info

Official Website: http://therotunda.org/events.html