Black's film puts a very human face, albeit a black face, on the realities of a globalized economy. In the wake of borderless economic controls by fewer and fewer multinational corporate entities, small countries like Jamaica are battling for survival. Black, who is a white female from New York, does not reduce the issue to any simplistic caricatures, but offers a heart-rending exploration of the complex economics behind the stranglehold that the IMF still has on the Land of Wood and Water years after their active relationship formally ended.

The film allows a diverse group of people in Jamaica to voice their understanding of and the impact of the IMF policies on their daily reality. Everyone from farmers, factory workers, writers, Rastafari elders, laborers, the late former Prime Minister Michael Manley and even the vacationing tourist had a story to tell. They are poignant and even humorous at times. Black was even able to interview Stanley Fischer, IMF Deputy Director who offered his organization's explanation of policies like devaluing the currency of the countries in which they are suppose to be offering economic assistance, a strategy that seems counterproductive to economic growth.

In next E-zine we'll offer perspectives of the film from the director as well as political and media personnel in Jamaica.

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