COTTON100% follows human rights activist Elena and farmer Mukhabbat, navigating the harsh working practices of Uzbekistan’s cotton industry. Mukhabbat leases land from the state, but water shortages make it difficult for her to meet stringent production quotas. The work is labour intensive, with many workers being forcibly recruited, and Elena works tirelessly to improve pay and living conditions. Borodin’s film documents the exploitation of workers in post-Soviet Uzbekistan, caught between tradition and the drive for modernity

Dir. Mikhail Borodin - 68min - 2021 - Germany, Uzbekistan

"Two brave women stand up for human rights as hordes of Uzbeks are dragged from their workplaces to pick state cotton, in this compelling documentary exposing farming practices only just outlawed" - Guardian

"What motivated me personally is my own childhood experience. I picked cotton as a schoolboy. Back then, I lived in Toytepa, in the Tashkent region, and we were regularly brought to the fields to pick cotton instead of attending school. Just imagine children from the grades 5 – 11 being taken to the fields to pick cotton....The realisation of what an odd experience that was, pushed me to delve deep into that topic." - Michael Borodin

Head over to the True Story blog to read the full interview with director Michael Borodin, conducted by Film Critic and Curator Sevara Pan: https://truestoryfilm.blog/

Programmed by Sevara Pan.