Annually, nearly 50 million tons of electronic waste are discarded in the developed world. Despite global legislation that this waste must stay in its country of origin, 75% disappears from legal recycling routes, with much of it being dumped in the Third World, where it destroys landscapes and endangers lives. A new documentary, "The E-Waste Tragedy", takes the viewer on a journey of investigation to Europe, China, Africa and the United States, revealing a toxic global trade fueled by greed and corruption. Filmmaker Cosima Dannoritzer tells us about the reactions she has encountered as she has been showing her documentary around the world:
"As a German documentary filmmaker, from a country with a cool climate, I always wonder why it never occurs to me to propose a film about, let's say, the most beautiful beaches in the world or the best Caribbean cocktails.
Instead, writing and directing ‘The E-Waste Tragedy', I found myself
touring the world's worst dump sites for electronic waste, including Agbogbloshie in Ghana, where e-waste from Europe and the US is burnt by children and where the smoke is so toxic that
the whole film crew had to see a dermatologist after the shoot.
The resulting film denounces the spectacular failing of the European recycling system, with e-waste being trafficked illegally all around the globe and netting huge profits for traffickers and corrupt recyclers.
'The E-Waste Tragedy' has so far been shown in more than 20 countries and screened at 30 international festivals, including in Europe, Hong Kong, Russia, South America and the US. All of these provide welcome opportunities for debate. For me as a filmmaker,
a film is not really finished when it leaves the cutting room but starts its real life in interaction with the audience.
At a big recyclers' conference in the US, the screening was followed by a long and lively debate and the response of several blogs, which defended the exports to Africa and China; one blogger claimed that e-waste trafficking was a huge 'hoax' and non-existent. I posted the links on our Facebook page to encourage further debate.
After the screening at the annual conference of the influential German trade union IG-Metall, the audience debate quickly shifted to possible solutions, including the question if electronics couldn't be manufactured using fewer toxic components; this way, they would be less of a risk when dumped in the rain or exposed to the elements in a Third World village (not to mention the health of the recycling workers).
In Spain and Brazil, local journalists have used the film and the festival screenings as a starting point for their own investigations, taking the story further in their respective countries.
At the Goethe-Institut Hong Kong's 'Kino' festival, I had the privilege to share the Q&A with several of the film's local protagonists. Together we worked on
disbanding the myth that in developing nations people are unaware of environmental issues. On the contrary -- activists from all over the world are continuously working against the illegal exports, including in China.
All these encounters leave me with a reinforced belief in the power of filmmaking and the moving image.
Films can make a small contribution to a large debate by taking the audience to places they couldn't easily visit for themselves, and to introduce them --at least on-screen-- to people on the other side of the planet who they wouldn't otherwise have a chance to meet, like the children of Agbogbloshie.
The film about the beaches and the Caribbean cocktails is going to have to wait."
Planet in Focus Film Festival and the Goethe-Institut Toronto present:
The E-Waste Tragedy
Directed by Cosima Dannoritzer
2014, produced by Media 3.14 and Yuzu Productions for Arte/Al Jazeera English/TVC/TVE, in collaboration with Lichtpunt/SVT/RTS/TG4/YLE.
Cosima Dannoritzer is a German film director and producer who became internationally known for her multi-award-winning documentary "The Light Bulb Conspiracy" on planned obsolescence. In 2001 she produces a BBC series on Germany and has worked for Deutsche Welle TV.
The author wishes to thank the '24/7' artist-in-residence program of the Goethe-Institut Hong Kong and Medienboard Berlin for the opportunity to develop the Asian part of the story.
image: Electronics recycling in Guiyu, China; courtesy of the filmmaker
