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The Miracle of Almería (2024)

Name: The Miracle of Almería
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2024-09-22T16:38:32+02:00
Rating: 3.5

Documentary | 75 minutes

3,50 3 votes

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Genre: Documentary

Duration: 75 minuten

Alternative title: Het Mirakel van Almería

Country: Belgium / Netherlands / Switzerland

Directed by: Moon Blaisse

This movie is not available on US streaming services.

The Miracle of Almería plot

In the south of Spain lies Almería, a huge province covered in white plastic. In 50 years, this region managed to grow from an arid desert into the largest vegetable garden in Europe. It is the place where our tomatoes come from, even in winter. But strange things are happening underneath all that plastic: Spanish farmers are dropping far below their prices to stay in the race. 120,000 migrants work under slavish conditions in the greenhouses. And today the vegetable garden inevitably moves to Morocco.

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mrklm

11397 messages
9906 votes

22 September 2024 at 16:38

In the 1960s, Almería was still an arid plain, but through investment and innovation since the last years of Francisco Franco, the region has grown into the most important exporter of fruit and vegetables for Europe. The economic, ecological and social problems are so serious that the flame can flare up at any moment, with all the consequences for trade …, but especially for those directly involved. Starts with a press conference in which Sidi and Suleymane, spokesmen for the fruit pickers, explain why they have gone on strike and threaten to continue until justice prevails. With the help of Sidi and Suleymane and an actor who plays their boss, Blaisse reconstructs the daily routine in the greenhouses. He also talks to now very elderly former fruit growers about the Almería of the past, to an activist and to an exporter who made good money from the trade, until the supermarkets took over. The use of actors (there is also a stand-in for Franco) is a light-hearted, but above all effective way to gain more insight. The remarkable final scene makes clear how ambiguous the title of this fascinating documentary is.