Cotton Road

Laura Kissel's documentary follows the long—although not particularly dramatic—supply chain that brings clothing to American stores. As the film's title suggests, the focus here is on cotton garments, with the journey beginning in South Carolina. Kissel looks at a small farm with a significant shortage of full-time workers, but this operation nonetheless manages to harvest considerable cotton crops, which are packaged for delivery to clothing manufacturers—in China. Once on the far side of the Pacific, the cotton winds up in several factories where laborers work tirelessly and diligently at processing the cotton before it's ready to be assembled into clothing. The final product is then packed up and shipped back across the Pacific, where it winds up in retail stores. Admittedly, there is some degree of educational value in learning where clothing comes from, and the reason for the absence of U.S. manufacturing centers becomes obvious when cameras visit the spartan Chinese facilities that employ subservient and poorly paid workers. But the film's pacing is somewhat plodding, especially during the initial South Carolina farming sequences. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)