Canadian Wal-Mart documentary in the spotlight
November 20th, 2006 by Zsofia
A new Canadian documentary about the world’s second largest corporation Wal-Mart is making headlines in both Canada and the US. Directed by Sergeo Kirby, “Wal-Town” follows six student activists as they travel to 36 Canadian towns where Wal-Mart has established stores.
The film grew out of the anti-globalisation student movement “überculture”, which has been fighting against the hegemony of the consumer giant. It has criticised Wal-Mart for destroying local communities and businesses, using Third World sweatshops to produce goods, and paying its employees substandard wages.
Wal-Mart recorded a $11.2 billion in profit in 2006 but defenders of globalisation say that the corporation brings an estimated 38,000 people out of poverty in China each month, and about 460,000 per year. For more on the documentary and the “überculture” movement, see www.waltown.com.
