Behind every beautiful blossom death is lurking. With this accusation by flower worker Mariella, the 1989 Columbian documentary film "Amor, mujeres y flores” (Love, Women and Flowers) shocked the public. Before that, who ever suspected the massive use of pesticides and fertilizers on Columbia’s cut flowers? Or illnesses or the exploitation of tens of thousands of women like in the early days of capitalism? After Holland, Columbia is the world’s second largest producer of flowers. Some are sent to Germany, from where some of the pesticides originate. Three years after this unsettling film, Teleglobus examines what, if anything, has changed in Columbia after international protests. The film also shows what we consumers in Europe can do. Boycott foreign flowers and only buy local ones? But that won’t help the flower workers. So what to do? Finding answers quickly is critical, for in the meantime flower worker Mariella has died of leukemia.

Press review:

Mannheimer Morgen:
This report is exceptional in several ways. The film directors report not only on the results of pesticide use in Columbia, but they have also managed to link them to consumers in Germany.
An excellent contemporary and circumspective film.

Video copies can be ordered from Matthias Film, Gänsheidestr. 67, 70184 Stuttgart, Germany, Tel. +49 711-245012 or from www.matthias-film.de