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ĊINE’AMBJENT #6 — Agriculture and Food Systems
March 29, 2019 @ 18:00 - 21:00 CET
Free
The Friends of the Earth Malta Environmental Film Club is centred around thematic documentary and film screenings linked to current environmental justice issues. For the ĊINE’AMBJENT #6 session we will be looking at Agriculture and Food Systems.
One of the basic necessities of existence is access to food, yet this necessity for the continuous production of crops is not translated into secure jobs in the agricultural industry, respect for farmers and peasants or the development of policy that ensures food security for many future generations.
Malta is currently facing a decline in the number of full-time farmers and well as an ageing farming population. With little hope in competing with the market prices of imported produce and local issues with the Pitkali Market, and the unpredictability of extreme winds and droughts, farmers are faced with the most precarious of employment.
While some deem agriculture as the least of priorities in Malta’s development, other’s see an alternative to the current situation. Can stronger cooperatives, community supported agriculture, innovative social enterprise, urban farming and other such initiatives transform food production locally?
The Chickens (1977) | الدجاج
42’ – Omar Amiralay
The inhabitants of Sadad, a village in the Syrian countryside, are seduced by promises that chicken farming will make them rich. Through mordant social commentary and symbolic irony, Amiralay focuses this film on the chicken farming industry in the rural Syrian village of Sadad. He documents the burdened livelihoods of farmers and the economic policies of the government that encouraged industrial egg productions rather than artisanal trades, a switch that ultimately led to the plight of the Sadad’s rural peasant class.
Syrian documentary filmmaker Omar Amiralay (1944-2011) is considered one of the pioneers and driving forces of nonfiction auteur cinema in the Arab world. He used cinema as a means to engage citizens and reflect their struggle for freedom, democracy and social justice. Most of his films, including The Chickens, remain banned in Syria.
Panel Discussion
The film screening will be followed with a panel discussion. Joining us on the day will be:
Malcolm Borg — MCAST Centre for Agriculture, Aquatics and Animal Sciences
Malcolm is in charge of MCAST’s Centre for Agriculture, Aquatics & Animal Sciences and is the founder and coordinator the Ghaqda Bdiewi Attivi- a lobby group for active farmers. Having graduated with a Masters Degree in Agribusiness Management, Malcolm has worked extensively on matters related to farmer education, agriculture education in secondary schools, agriculture research especially related to water management and other issues related to small-scale fisheries and aquaculture.
Emanuela de Giorgio — The Veg Box
Emanuela, founder of The Veg Box, first started working with plants and growing food in 2012 at the age of 30 with no prior knowledge or experience. She learnt from books, the internet, various workshops and talking with people from the industry. She firmly believes in the importance of supporting the local farmers, growing your own when you can and being aware of our consumer choices and their impacts on the environment. Emanuela feels strongly that ethics, environmental sustainability, positive social impact and the love for working in and with nature, are the base for the global movement happening right now around conscious consumerism, edible education and awareness on how to support the local agricultural sector and environmentally positive local businesses.
Debbie Schembri —Mediterranean Culinary Academy
Always having had a keen interest in cooking and the rituals associated with it, Debbie took a different route into the culinary world. Interning at Noma, Copenhagen and Coi, San Francisco, she learnt the extreme discipline required to work in kitchens of Michelin level as well as a variety of new techniques pertaining to fermentation, working with wild produce and outdoor cooking. Debbie has a particular interest in the human connections, customs and stories associated with the act of eating. Her interest in the anthropological aspect led her to make various voluntary trips, most recently to Greece and Lebanon, where, not only was she able to engage with people and help through her cooking but was able to learn first-hand from locals about regional dishes of those areas in the Mediterranean.
The screening is free but places are limited. Submit in the form below to reserve your seat.
The film club will follow with the following thematic screenings:
- Water Scarcity
- Climate Change and Island States
- Waste
- Fashion Industry and the Circular Economy
- Air Pollution
- 2 open sessions – An opportunity for participants to curate either with their choice of film or topic of interest.
The film club is co-curated between Friends of the Earth Malta, Kinemastik, and the presenters of each session.
If you are interested in presenting one of the sessions, assisting in the curation or the organisation of the film club, get in touch with Anastasia on anastasia@foemalta.org.
This session is organised in collaboration with Kinemastik and supported by Arts Council Malta – Creative Communities
