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Shipbreakers
Michael Kot, Canada, documentary, 70 min., 2004
(Hindi and English with subtitles)
 In Alang, India, some young men are ‘lucky’ enough to get work as shipbreakers – a job with poor pay, outrageous working conditions, and frequent accidents. Alang is where thousands of the world's largest ships are sent to be dismantled – many of them highly toxic. The rusting hulks are taken apart by hand, piece by piece, and sold for scrap. On average one worker a day dies on the job, some from explosions or falls, but many will contract cancers caused by asbestos, PCBs and other toxic substances. Shipbreakers vividly captures both the haunting beauty of the ships and the deplorable conditions of the workers – in an unforgettable portrayal where Third World ingenuity meets 21st century global economics. –M.S.L.
Michael Kot attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He has won over ten international awards, and a 2002 Gemini Award nomination for the prestigious Donald Brittain Award for Best Documentary Program. He continues working as a broadcaster and is currently a production executive at Alliance Atlantis.
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