SYDNEY, Australia – Lumapixel, the Sydney-based creative production agency, was one of only four companies to reach the finals in the Best Documentary Short category at the Cannes World Film Festival ‘Remembering the Future’ awards for its brand documentary, The Real Cost of Coffee, created in collaboration with client St Remio.
Developed to promote emerging new talent, the Cannes World Film Festival now in its third year, focuses on cause-driven, environmental, humanitarian, and social justice issues.
The Real Cost of Coffee explores the unsustainable model of current coffee production and features the significant challenges coffee farmers face, from the inequality of financial investment to inadequate agronomic training and climate change.
It seeks to shift the conversation from commodity to community when it comes to one of the world’s most sought-after drinks.
The documentary asks consumers to look beyond their cup and help protect coffee farmers, who are mainly female, and the future of the coffee supply chain explains Julia Tink, Director, St Remio.
“The whole ethos of St Remio is to challenge the way consumers view coffee and highlight the real issues facing coffee farmers,” she says. Each coffee roaster has a social and moral responsibility to coffee farmers to ensure that the coffee we enjoy every day isn’t at the expense of these communities.
“To really understand what’s happening, is to see it, which is why this documentary is so important in communicating the story, understanding how investment can have a positive and lasting impact on these communities, and how a simple choice of which coffee brand you support, can have a direct impact on the lives of others”, she continues.
Gary Freitas, Managing Director of Lumapixel adds “It has been an absolute privilege to bring this story to life and support St Remio in their mission to change how we think about our coffee from the end of the supply chain with our favourite beans or barista to the beginning, to look at who grows this crop for us and what do they need to survive and thrive across successive generations.
“This documentary was our second trip to Rwanda with the St Remio brand in addition to other sustainability projects we have done in Africa with clients so we are thrilled to be able to continue to advance and grow this for-purpose work in a way that might make a real difference. It’s also exciting to be a small Aussie company standing alongside brilliant international talent on the world stage,” he notes.
The The Real Cost of Coffee is currently entering the international film festival circuit. The film teaser can be seen here.
The Real Cost of Coffee
International Premiere, Cannes Word Film Festival ‘Remember the Future’
Lumapixel
Directed by Byron Wylder
Produced by Julia Tink and Gary Freitas
Cinematography by Roger Stonehouse
Edited by Byron Wylder, Krystal Spry, Julia Tink
Colour by Krystal Spry
Photography by Michele Froidevaux
Interview translations by Daniel Hategekimaa
Producer: Julia Tink, St Remio
Executive Producer: Gary Freitas, Lumapixel
Production Credit: Financed by St Remio Coffee
