As part of its International Institute Human Rights Film Series, UCLA's James Bridges Theater will host a free screening of The Bitter Taste of Tea: A Journey into the World of Fair Trade tonight at 6:30. A documentary by Danish journalist Tom Heinemann–named “Best Investigative Journalist” in 2009 by the Danish Association for Investigative Journalism (FUJ) for his work on the film–and Erling Borgen, The Bitter Taste of Tea examines the work environments of fair-trade and non-fair trade farming operations on tea estates in Sri Lanka, Kenya, India, and Bangladesh. And, finding surprisingly little difference between them, provokes serious questions about the legitimacy of the fair trade tea industry.

Following the screening, a discussion forum on tea and fair trade will examine the film's key issues. Beatrice Hohenegger, author and guest curator of Steeped in History: The Art of Tea, will moderate the discussion between Katherine Stone, UCLA Professor of Law and director of the Globalization and Labor Standards Project, Rodney North, a senior member of Equal Exchange, the largest Fair Trade company in the country, and David Funkhouser of TransFair USA.

Watch the trailer here.

James Bridges Theater, UCLA, 1409 Melnitz, Westwood; (310) 206-8013.

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