CounterCorp Film Festival benefit screening: "Grain of Sand"

Grain of Sand (Granito de Arena, 2005) 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, IMF, U.S. government, and multinational corporations, Mexican President (and former Coca-Cola executive) Vicente Fox has stepped up efforts to dismantle the country's public schools and replace the teachers, who have traditionally defended the rights of Mexico's poor, disenfranchised, and indigenous citizens.

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 used intimidation and violence to undermine the teachers' efforts to preserve their classrooms, jobs, and autonomy -- as well as Mexican democracy.

The film is in English and Spanish (with 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 2006 CounterCorp Anti-Corporate Film Festival in October. For more information about the screening or the festival, visit http://www.countercorp.org.