Carretera Cartonera: Discover the World of Cartonera Publishers

(Carretera cartonera)
Marta Mancusi, Anna Trento | Documentary

2016 | 37 minutes | Italy

Carretera Cartonera travel across Latin America to understand Cartonera book production. What they find is a diverse and vast array of citizens and cooperatives committed to using literary production as a means of fighting for social justice, economic equality, and a more sustainable world.

Synopsis

Carretera Cartonera: Discover the World of Cartonera Publishers chronicles the road trip of the filmmakers as they travel across Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile) to understand Cartonera book production. What they find is a diverse and vast array of citizens and cooperatives committed to using literary production as a means of fighting for social justice, economic equality, and a more sustainable world.

Cartonera publishers (editoriales cartoneras) are proponents of the salvage economy. They handcraft their books out of recycled materials, often bought straight from Cartoneros, people who make their living by collecting cardboard and selling it to recycling plants. This method not only allows unknown authors to be published but also supports environmental sustainability and thedemocratization of literature by involving the help of Cartoneros in the production process and making the books available to people at prices significantly lower than those of conventional publishing houses.

The books are composed of photocopies bounded by hand into cardboard covers. Each cover is hand embellished, making every copy a beautiful unique artistic and literary object.

The phenomenon of Cartonera publishers began in Argentina in 2003 as a response to the country’s economic crisis. It has, since then, expanded to the Americas, Africa, and Europe.

Reviews

"A fascinating subject that touches multiple bases at once: socioeconomic struggles, publishing, entrepreneurship, contemporary Latin American society, and sustainable business practices. Highly recommended." — P. Hall, Video Librarian

Citation
Main credits

Mancusi, Marta (filmmaker)
Trento, Anna (filmmaker)

Other credits

Music, Pillow.


Citation
Cataloging
Keywords
Cartoneros, books, reuse, recycle, repurpose, cardboard, spanish, spanish language, latin america, latin american cinema, latin american film, ibero america, latin, latinx, latino, latina,,environment, environmental, environmentalism, climate, climate change, global warming, habitat, ecosystem, ecology, eco, earth, planet, water, sustainable, sustainability, deforestation, agriculture, green, green economy,literature, poetry, writing, fiction, books, adaptations, writing, writers, authors, authorship, novels, novellas, short fiction, memoir, biography, autobiography, literati, books, written word, book adaptations, poetry adaptations, english literature, spanish literature, books in translation, books adapted to film, cinematic adaptation, cinema rights, film rights, literary adaptation, literary imagery, literary motif,culture, identity, identity politics, culture wars, left wing, right wing, intersectionality, identity groups, civilization, literacy, humanism, cancel culture, online culture, cultural revolution, cultural diffusion, culture shock, popular culture, pop culture, material culture, cultural capital, cultural assimilation ,economics, social class, money, capital, capitalism, class, economy, prejudice, intersectionality, inequality, poverty, income gap, wage gap, class warfare, elitism, snobbery, bourgeois, poverty, upper class, middle class, lower class, nouveau riche,education, school, pedagogy, schooling, elementary education, secondary education, upper education, advanced education, education gap, learning, schooling, university, college, degrees, high school, middle school, junior high school, public school, private school, independent school, elementary school, schooling, school policy, educational equity,sociology, anthropology, psychology, sociological, sociological perspectives, conflict theory, human conflicts, sociological thinking,conflict perspective, topics in sociology, sociology topics, sociology studies, social studies, people and cultures, human relations, human relationships, cultural studies, culture studies ,short films, short film, short, non-feature, run time, short run time, running time, short running time, live-action short, documentary short, animated short, live-action short film, documentary short film, animated short film,labor studies, employment studies, workers rights, workers’ rights, organizing, labor unions, trade unions, unions, industry, employment law, working class, labor rights, labor equity, employment, union organizing, labor organizing, labor rights movements, employment rights movements, workers’ rights movement, workers rights movements,south america, south american countries, countries in south america, argentina, bolivia, brazil, chile, colombia, ecuador, guyana, paraguay, peru, suriname, uruguay, venezuela, south american politics, south american culture, south american cuisine, south american education, south america in media, south american languages, south america history; "Carretera Cartonera: Discover the World of Cartonera Publishers"; Pragda Films
Clips
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Festivals

Euganea Film Festival
Antartica International Film Festival of Environment and Sustainability
Festival of Political Cinema by Women
Detour Film Festival
Sembrando Cine Film Festival
12 Months Film Festival

DIRECTOR: Marta Mancusi, Anna Trento

NATIONALITY: Italy

YEAR: 2016

GENRE: Documentary

LANGUAGE: Spanish; Portuguese

COLOR / B&W: Color

GRADE LEVEL: High School, College, Adults

SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE

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