T_SHIRT TRAVELS ON PBS

Contact:
Sherri Taylor
Independent Television Service (ITVS)
415-356-8383 x240
sherri_taylor@itvs.org


Web Site Launch for T-SHIRT TRAVELS

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/tshirttravels/

ITVS and PBS present T-SHIRT TRAVELS and its companion Web site at
pbs.org/tshirttravels. While working with an international aid
organization stationed in a remote village in Zambia, filmmaker Shantha
Bloemen began seeing more and more unemployed Zambians selling used
American clothing in the marketplace. Tracing a winding T-shirt trail
carved by global economics, this documentary examines the devastating role
of World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in directing Zambia’s
economic policies and the underlying reasons for so many Africans'
remaining in poverty. T-SHIRT TRAVELS airs nationally on March 23, 2004 at
10:00 p.m. on PBS (check local listings).


T-SHIRT TRAVELS Web Site Highlights

| Track a T-Shirt

Follow a T-shirt's journey around the globe, starting with its origins at
a local charity drop box in New York City to an exporter's warehouse, and
finally halfway across the world to a marketplace in a remote African
village.

| The People

Watch video interviews with key figures featured in the film, including
local Zambian businessmen, villagers and globalization experts. Hear their
views on the free market, Zambia's debt and the nation's high poverty rate.

| Impact of Debt

Learn about the economic history of Zambia since its independence from
Britain in 1964. Financially dependent on its mining industries, Zambia
turned to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to borrow
money in 1973 when the price of copper plummeted. Find out why programs
such as structural adjustment prescribed by international lenders have
left Zambians more impoverished, sick and illiterate than ever before.

| Filmmaker Q&A

Read an exclusive Q&A interview with filmmaker Shantha Bloemen in which
she talks about how her experiences in Zambia inspired her to make T-SHIRT
TRAVELS. Bloemen also shares her views on secondhand clothing, the current
debt problem in Zambia and the unique role of public television.

| Learn More

Explore related Web sites, books and articles and learn more about debt in
developing countries, international aid in Africa and African economic
history.

| Talkback

Share your thoughts on the program and join a discussion on the secondhand
clothing industry in Africa, debt in poor countries and donating clothes
in the United States.

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About INDEPENDENT LENS

Hosted by Don Cheadle, this series showcases powerful and innovative
independent films. Presented by ITVS, INDEPENDENT LENS is broadcast on PBS
stations nationwide. Check local listings at
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens