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MAQUILÁPOLIS [City of Factories]

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MAQUILÁPOLIS [City of Factories] MAQUILÁPOLIS [city of factories] A film by Vicky Funari and Sergio De La Torre in collaboration with the women of Colectivo Chilpancingo Pro Justicia Ambiental CITTAC (Workers’ Information Center) Promotoras por los Derechos de las Mujeres and the former organization Grupo Factor X / Casa de la Mujer Funders The MAQUILÁPOLIS Community Outreach Campaign was made possible by: Creative Capital Foundation Creative Work Fund Panta Rhea Foundation Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media Potrero Nuevo Fund San Diego Community Foundation / Lawyers’ Fund for Justice Sunflower Fund Threshold Foundation and generous private donors, including Betty Carr Muse MAQUILÁPOLIS was produced in association with ITVS A project of Creative Capital with support from California Arts Council Creative Work Fund Discussion Guide Grousbeck Family Foundation John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation LEF Foundation Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund National Endowment for the Arts This discussion guide was produced with funding from The Sunflower Fund New World Foundation Potrero Nuevo Fund Sundance Institute Documentary Fund Threshold Foundation Tides Foundation, advised by Avi Peterson U.S.-Mexico Fund for Culture (now Cultural Contact) and generous private donors David Maung Letter from the Filmmakers Dear Colleagues, lives, blossoming as women, human be- While films rarely effect measurable, ings and activists. We knew that working concrete changes in the world, they are We began the Maquila Project in 2000, with them would be an amazing way to powerful tools: they open minds and by inviting factory workers in Tijuana tell the intertwined stories of globaliza- create dialogue, necessary precursors and community organizations in Mexico tion, of the maquiladoras and of citizen to and ingredients of action. One of our and the U.S. to join us in creating a activism. We hoped the collaboration great pleasures has been to watch this film that depicts globalization through would yield a documentary which film open up new realms of thought, the eyes of the women who live on would be useful to the promotoras and emotion and experience for audiences, its leading edge. The factory work- their communities. We also hoped to just as the process of making the film ers who appear in the resulting film, further the promotoras’ work by opened our own minds and hearts. We MAQUILÁPOLIS, have been involved providing them with the equipment hope that through this film and discus- in every stage of production, from and skills to create their own videos sion guide viewers come to understand planning to shooting, from scripting to in the future. After the completion of their own intimate relation with Tijuana, outreach. We wanted to engage in a col- MAQUILÁPOLIS, we have continued with Carmen, Lourdes and other maqui- laborative process that would break with to work with the same group of promo- ladora workers. We hope that people the traditional documentary practice of toras as well as a broad cohort of partner on both sides of the production/con- dropping into a location, shooting and organizations on a Binational Commu- sumption equation begin to recognize leaving with the “goods,” which would nity Outreach Campaign. This Discussion each other as global citizens rather than only repeat the pattern of the maquila- Guide is one piece of that campaign. simply as consumers and producers. We dora itself. We sought to merge art-mak- hope that people will understand that ing with community development and As to our personal motivations for mak- ing this film, we are both artists who NAFTA-style treaties do not benefit the to ensure that the film’s voice would be many but the few, and that one way to truly that of its subjects. believe that art can and does participate in a cultural dialogue concerning social combat them is to support causes like One thing all the participating workers change and justice. Our work is in- those of the Chilpancingo Collective, in MAQUILÁPOLIS have in common is formed by our own hybrid lives: Vicky is CITTAC and the NGOs that organize to a sense of agency: they are promotoras, a U.S. citizen who grew up in four coun- question and to resist the dark side of women who sought out training in tries and six cities, including Mexico City. globalization. We hope that you will be human rights, labor rights and environ- Sergio is a U.S. and Mexican citizen who inspired to action, so that the work of mental justice from non-governmental was raised in Tijuana and migrated to women like Carmen and Lourdes can organizations (NGOs) and who became the San Francisco Bay Area as an adult. lead to ever greater changes for the bet- advocates committed to passing their Our work on MAQUILÁPOLIS is part of ter, in Tijuana and around the world. knowledge on to their communities. our ongoing investigations into bicultur- When we met the promotoras, they ality, migration, gender and labor. Vicky Funari and Sergio De La Torre were each at a point of discovery in their Filmmakers, MAQUILÁPOLIS 2 Table of Contents Credits and Letter from the Filmmakers 2 Acknowledgements The Film 3 This guide is based on an earlier The Campaign 3 guide produced by the PBS series Using this Discussion Guide 4 P.O.V. for the national broadcast of MAQUILÁPOLIS. We are grateful to Planning an Event 4 them for their permission to adapt Facilitating a Discussion 5 that guide for our campaign. Background Information 6 CREDITS, P.O.V. guide: Discussion Questions 12 Writer: Faith Rogow, Taking Action 14 Insighters Educational Resources 15 Consulting Guide Producers, P.O.V.: Eliza Licht, Senior Manager, The Film Community Engagement and Education, P.O.V. Carmen and Lourdes work in Tijuana’s maquiladoras, the multinationally-owned facto- Shabnam Ahamed, ries which came to Mexico for its cheap labor. Each day these factory workers confront Outreach and Development labor violations, environmental devastation and urban chaos – life on the frontier of Assistant, P.O.V. the global economy. In MAQUILÁPOLIS, Carmen and Lourdes reach beyond the daily Irene Villaseñor, Youth struggle for survival to organize for change: Carmen takes a major television manufac- Views Manager, P.O.V. turer to task for violating her labor rights. Lourdes pressures the government to clean Cari Ladd, Content Reviewer up a toxic waste dump left behind by a departing factory. The women also use video diaries to chronicle their lives, their city and their hopes for the future. CREDITS, this guide: As they work for change, the world changes too: a global economic crisis and the availability of cheaper labor in China begin to pull the factories away from Tijuana, Writers: Vicky Funari leaving Carmen, Lourdes and their colleagues with an uncertain future. As promotoras Dan LaBotz – community advocates who fight for social justice – Carmen and Lourdes serve as role Swathi Malepati models for taking action in the face of adversity. With additional material from some of our Campaign partners: The Campaign • Binational Feminist Collective Our Binational Community Outreach Campaign, designed and implemented collab- • Chilpancingo Collective for oratively with factory workers and stakeholder organizations in the U.S. and Mexico, • Environmental Justice uses MAQUILÁPOLIS in diverse education and advocacy contexts to create meaning- • CITTAC/Worker’s Information ful social change around the issues of globalization, social and environmental justice • Center and fair trade. The primary strategy is to use the film to promote dialogue and as an or- • Environmental Health Coalition ganizing tool: to get people involved and mobilized for change and to support cross- • Global Exchange issue and cross-border activism. • Maquiladora Health and Safety Our campaign team includes dedicated activists on both sides of the border, media- • Support Network makers commited to social change, and most importantly a group of women factory • San Diego Maquiladora Workers workers struggling to bring about positive change in their world. Our core Campaign • Support Network Partners are: Chilpancingo Collective for Environmental Justice; CITTAC/Worker’s Infor- • SweatFree Communities mation Center; Binational Feminist Collective; Environmental Health Coalition; Global • Women Thrive Worldwide Exchange; Maquiladora Health and Safety Support Network; San Diego Maquiladora • Women’s Rights Advocates Workers Support Network; SweatFree Communities; and Women Thrive Worldwide. Other organizations have also partnered with us to organize and promote events, in- Translation: Lilia Escalante cluding the Sierra Club, Comité Fronterizo de Obreras (CFO/Border Workers’ Commit- tee), Students Against Sweatshops and many others. We invite you to participate in Design: Catherine Farman the campaign by using the film and this discussion guide in your own organization and community. 3 Potential Partners and Using this Discussion Guide Target Users This guide is designed to help you use MAQUILÁPOLIS MAQUILÁPOLIS is well suited for use in a variety of settings and is especially recom- as the centerpiece of a community event. It contains sug- mended for use by: gestions for organizing an event as well as ideas for how • Groups focused on any of the Key Issues to help participants think more deeply about the issues in listed on the next page the film. The discussion questions are designed for a wide • Promotoras (Community Advocates) in range of audiences. Rather than attempt to address all the Mexico and the U.S. questions, choose those that best meet the needs and • High school and college students
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