Grammy winner Alanis Morissette has lent her voice to an anthem to support “A Small Section of the World,” an hourlong documentary premiering in New York this weekend that highlights an influential group of female coffee producers in Costa Rica.
“Waiting for Superman” and “An Inconvenient Truth” producer Lesley Chilcott directed the documentary, which focuses on the women behind the Asociación de Mujeres Organizades de Biolley (ASOMOBI) in the Buenos Aires Canton in the Province of Puntarenas. The group formalized in 1997, building a small wet mill in seek of income after a local crisis forced many men in the village to leave to seek out work.
(related:The CQI Gender Initiative and Why Industry Should Care About Equity at Origin)
The film chronicles the group’s building of the coffee mill from the ground up, as well as how the women of ASAMOBI fought to survive and rebuild after a fire nearly destroyed everything.
Some of the women behind ASOMOBI. Photo courtesy
Costa Rican musician Carlos “Tapado” Vargas teamed up with Morissette for the film anthem, called “The Morning,” and the two actually used green coffee on drying beds as a prominently featured percussive element.
(related: Understanding the Restrictive Concept of ‘Women’s Work’ In Coffee Production)