Cotton Road

About the Project

A travelogue for the 21st century, Cotton Road is a documentary about the workers who make possible cotton’s global flows and the industrial landscapes that are the backdrop to their experience. It visualizes work normally hidden from view, such as the ginning of cotton and the dying of yarn. Cotton Road travels from family farms in South Carolina to a burgeoning Chinese city of 20 million people to tell a story about globalized labor, weaving a portrait of the work and workers we never see and the products that they make.

It is human labor and consumption that connects us to one another, and yet we remain estranged from the very processes of production and the people who make our things. The mundane act of consumption is something that each of us undertakes every single day, whether it’s through the food we eat or something material we purchase out of desire or need. Few of us give consumption much thought, and yet American economic growth rests upon the expectation that we will all continue to consume more and more. Cotton Road allows us to address our lack of awareness around this vital issue by presenting a story about the men, women and industrial processes behind the production of textiles made from the commodity of cotton.

Cotton Road is driven by a humanist perspective; this is also the film’s social impact goal. Cotton Road promotes the idea that we need more transparency around production and consumption, and that we should be able to see the labor behind the things we buy. Transparency enables an audience of citizens to enter into conversation about the ethics and issues surrounding production, consumption, and globalization.

The Fledgling Fund Impact

The Fledgling Fund is pleased to provide support for Cotton Road. This film shines a light on how our daily consumption patterns have ripple affects around the world. Every day we consume and use products that we have no idea of their origin. This film will help change that.