SYNOPSIS

What lies behind the spread of genetically modified plants in cotton cultivation in India?
Who benefits from it? Is biotechnology really the solution for the development of Third World Countries? Who or What is Behind the Label?
India is one of the largest countries in the world, and it is the second largest producer of fibre textiles that are used by billions of men and women from all over the world for an endless variety of daily needs.
In just nine years, promising prosperity for Indian farmers, seeds produced by the multinational company Monsanto, have completely dominated the Indian cotton-growing market.

Former marketing director of Monsanto, India - Tiruvadi Jagadisan - tells us how the company first entered the Indian market in the nineties, illegally introducing seeds with a gene that sterilized local varieties, and then, from 2002, progressively reached an almost total monopoly in that market with genetically modified seeds.
Today GM cotton seeds are distributed at an inflated price to Indian companies, who pay royalties to Monsanto: seeds that originally cost 9 rupees per kilo, are now being bought for an astounding 4000 rupees by impoverished peasants. Weak and permissive local laws and regulations do the rest, leaving the farmers little choice. In the end, the most devastating consequence is for the Indian farmers, who have become more and more in debt. India, like many other producing countries in the so-called Third World, is on the threshold of a genuine agrarian crisis. This situation, caused by the carelessness of the most developed countries, particularly affects the Indian Subcontinent central states where we have witnessed a new major tragedy: In less than a decade, 216.000 farmers have committed suicide in despair and shame caused by the unbearable burden of debts for their crops. It is an ever-escalating scandal that raises new questions about inequality in this huge Country.

The uncontrolled spread of biotechnology in agriculture affects the already unstable environmental balance, which is the basis for the survival of millions of people. Earth has become sterile; new parasites, unchecked by GM seeds, multiply; animals die mysteriously after grazing near the residues of genetically modified cotton crops, and native plant varieties have disappeared. The GM seeds seem to fail more often, giving way to fields of damaged crops that need increasingly expensive chemical treatments to eradicate parasites. Hopes for prosperity are rapidly transformed into agonizing disappointment. The film, interspersed with images of the "lifecycle of cotton"-from plantations to textiles - links the testimonials about GM cotton failure with the stories of others who have gambled on a radical alternative- taking the difficult path to organically grown cotton. A path that starts with the recovery of traditional seeds to conserve biodiversity and ensure a perhaps less "miraculous, but more robust future - for millions of farmers.
Along this path, the conservation of the environment meets with acceptable social balance, with the preservation of traditional crafts such as manual weaving, and the development of sustainable agriculture for farmers. This has developed primarily from ethical reasons but could also have significant economic implications for India’s cotton production. Organic farming already accounts for more than half of global organic production and it has growing success in Western markets.
Authoritative experts in India provide the scientific commentary in the documentary. Their analysis is interwoven with the stories of the cotton-growers, all gathered in real time. Women robbed by intermediaries; children working in the fields, on the threshold of young suicide; desperate widows, and farmers misled by false promises of wellbeing. These are the unforgettable faces that tell the story of GM cotton, in an India that is still largely unknown.

• Paolo Bruno, co-producer

• Audiovisual Producer for Italian and international market, developing projects from the first blink of an idea, through the whole production process, till the complete realization and sale. Skills for video contents fine-tuned on every kind of media or distribution: from TV, festival, theatrical and non-theatrical to web, smartphone, corporate intranet and VOD. Expertise in advanced video technology applications such as 2D and 3D graphic animation, motion capture, stereoscopy.
  Main productions with Overcom
  Art Life. The Futurism Revolution - 2010
  produced in cooperation with Marinetti's family, the docudrama portrays the revolutionary point of view of the founder of Futurism.
  Literature, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, cinema, design, advertising: each expression of creativity can and has to be Futurist.
  director Luca Verdone - screenplay Alessandro Zambrini
  International Rome Film Festival - FIFA International Festival of Films on Art Montreal
  The Universe of Keith Haring - 2007/2008
  produced in cooperation with the Keith Haring Foundation of New York, the feature length documentary explores the personal and cultural life of one of the most important and significant representatives of American pop-art from the eighties.
  director Christina Clausen
  International Rome Film Festival - FIC Brasilia International Film Festival "Special Jury Prize" - FIFA International Festival of Films on Art Montreal - Tribeca Film Festival New York
  worldwide distribution

• Barbara Ceschi a Santacroce, producer

• Born in Vicenza in 1958, has achieved linguistic Baccalaureate and a following degree in Art History at Christie's Fine Arts Course in London.
  Citizen of the world after graduation she moved to London, then New York and Rome where she worked on film production for several years. She moved then to Milano to work in advertising and fashion.
  From the birth of her children she made ​a difficult working choice and takes the pledge to safeguard the environment in the broadest sense of the word.
  She moved to Tuscany where she acquired significant expertise in the areas of agronomy, dealing with research and development within the EU over the chain of agro-fiber crops.

• Fabio Colapinto, India coordinator

• Owner of Connecting Pvt Ltd, together with partner Barbara Ceschi, he is committed on the promotion of India and its most traditional aspects through specific projects: to bring awareness about the cotton industry through tourism.
  Both believe in the possibility to support international responsible cooperation between Italy and India and are working on projects aiming to promote environmental sustainability of Mankind and its activities in harmony with Mother Earth.
  When Fabio went to India 30 years ago, he fell in love with it to the extent that he was nicknamed by the Indians themselves THE ROMAN INDIAN. A brother to many of them.

• Cecilia Mastrantonio, co-author

• Cecilia Mastrantonio (b. Rome, Italy, 1956) is a professional journalist specialized in environmental topics. She was editor of the monthly "Eco La nuova ecologia" for 11 years, working on numerous enquiry stories. Since 2003 she has written science, cultural, and environmental documentaries mainly for the RAI Educational and RAI 3 channels. Titles to her credit include L'Utopia della porta accanto (2005), L' Appennino bolognese: un distretto per l'energia rinnovabile (2006), Lo spirito del vento (2006), Le crepe nel G8 (2009), l’Aquila a pezzi (2010).

• Sebastiano Tecchio, co-author, director

• Sebastiano Tecchio, was born in Milan, Italy on April 3rd 1965. After studying film in Italy and in the United States he moved to Rome. Since 1990 he has been working in Rome as screen-play writer, editor and director. Titles to his credit include: 1960 - Actors on the Barricades (2005); Gambling Italian Style (2006); As Clear as Water (2007); The Other Olympics (2008); The Feast of Saint Anthony in Posta (2009); L'Aquila in Pieces (2010); Behind the Label (2011).

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