CounterCorp Film Festival Benefit Film Screening

Wed, Feb 8
7:30pm-9:00pm
$5, $10, $20

The CounterCorp Anti-Corporate Film Festival presents its first film
screening and benefit event: The San Francisco premiere of "GRAIN OF
SAND" (Granito de Arena, 2005) on Wednesday, February 8, at 7:30 p.m.
at the Brava Theater, 2781 24th Street, in San Francisco's Mission
District.

"GRAIN OF SAND" is a new documentary about the grassroots struggle of
teachers and parents in Mexico to resist the privatization of the
nation's public school system, which has accelerated since the 1993
NAFTA treaty made education a so-called "tradable service".

Under pressure from the World Bank, the IMF, and U.S. government and
corporate officials, Mexican President (and former Coca-Cola
executive) Vicente Fox has stepped up efforts to supplant the
country's public schools and teachers, who have traditionally
defended the rights of Mexico's poor, disenfranchised, and indigenous
citizens.

Under the slogan of "quality education," the Mexican government has
embarked on a program of standardized testing and performance-based
evaluation that echoes the Bush administration's "No Child Left
Behind" initiative in the U.S. In one ominous scene in the film, we
see commercials on Mexican television for new schools built by the
Ford Motor Company and Coca-Cola.

"GRAIN OF SAND" also documents the historic role that teachers have
played in Mexican politics, including the struggle against their own
corrupt and co-opted national union, which has undermined efforts to
preserve their classrooms, jobs, and autonomy -- as well as Mexican
democracy -- through the use of intimidation and violence.

The film is in both English and Spanish, with alternating bilingual
subtitles, and runs approximately 60 minutes. It was written and
directed by acclaimed Seattle filmmaker Jill Freidberg, who also
produced the award-winning documentary "THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS
LIKE", about the historic 1999 anti-globalization protests against
the WTO in Seattle.

Following the screening, a panel of speakers will discuss the
connection between the privatization of schools in Mexico and similar
trends in the U.S., and answer questions from the audience. Tickets
are $5-$10 and go on sale at the theater 30 minutes before the
screening. Proceeds from the event go to support the CounterCorp Film
Festival in October. For more information on the screening or the
CounterCorp festival, visit www.countercorp.org or contact

Venue:

Brava Theater
2781 24th Street
San Francisco
415-641-7657
www.brava.org

Take BART to 24th Street/Mission Station and walk east down 24th
Street (away from Twin Peaks)

Additional Info:


www.countercorp.org