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Multicultural Studies

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The Golden Cage: A Story of California's Farmworkers

Produced by Susan Ferriss

• "Unusually well crafted and beautifully photographed documentary... Its portrait of contemporary farm workers is both vivid and moving." - Marlon T. Riggs, University of California, Berkeley
• "Skillful use of archival motion pictures helps recreate the history of the farm workers movement." - Landers Video Reviews
• "Recommended for college courses in the social sciences dealing with immigration, labor and poverty." - Choice

The plight of migrant farmworkers has not changed much since the Depression. Only their nationality is different. The Golden Cage chronicles the experiences of Mexican farmworkers in California, and their isolation in a land of plenty. They toil under the blazing sun for little more than the minimum wage (and sometimes less) and are exposed daily to hazardous pesticides. Their housing is crowded and ramshackle.

Using historical footage, interviews, newspaper clippings and black-and-white stills, the documentary traces the history of the United Farmworkers Union from the sixties to its current decline. It show the tactics used by many agricultural companies to evade using union labor. It gives voice to the farmworkers, growers, migrant doctors and others who talk candidly about the substandard working and living conditions that accompany the harvest. The documentary introduces us to two Mexican families - one legally in the U.S. and one illegally - who tell of their hope for a better life.

National Conference, Ethnic Relations in Higher Education, 1991
Gold Apple, National Educational Film & Video Festival,1990

29 min. Video or DVD. Sale $295. Video rental $55.

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