Photo credit: Courtesy of Production
“It’s very tricky on both sides of it,” director-producer Jamie Sisley told Hollywood on the Potomac regarding Farewell Ferris Wheel which made its world premiere in Washington, at the AFI DOCS Film Festival. Translation: It’s Complicated.
“Over the past two centuries, the carnival has been woven into the fabric of the American experience. However, rising expenses and changing domestic labor habits have made it difficult for U.S. carnivals to remain in business. The need for reliable labor coupled with rising overhead has caused employers to find labor outside of U.S. borders. Today, eighty percent of all carnival workers are Mexican citizens who legally travel north for the eight-month carnival season, and then return home. Astonishingly, one third of the workers come from the same small Mexican town – Tlapacoyan, Veracruz.”
“After receiving complaints about abusive work conditions found in industries that use H-2B visa, the Department of Labor issued new rules that would raise wages and protect H-2B workers from potential exploitation. The carnival industry protested that the rules would put the carnivals out of business. Farewell Ferris Wheel spends six years examining the carnival industry’s labor struggles by following a carnival owner, a labor recruiter, and two workers from Tlapacoyan.” The Filmmakers
Jamie Sisley – Producer/Co-Director
Miguel “M.i.G.” Martinez – Co-Producer/Co-Director
Hollywood on the Potomac sat down with Jamie to decipher all the complications not only in the visa and labor situation, but also our concerns about safety. How safe is it to have farm workers given the responsibility of all the technical duties involved in carnival rides? Translation: Are our children safe?
Main slider photo: Getty Images
