Director Jawad Rhalib covered the riots, which took place in El Ejido in 2000, as a journalist for RTM (Radio télévision marocaine). One of the most violent outbreaks of racism in the recent history of Spain, the riots coincided with the enactment of a new Foreign Persons Law promoting the social integration of immigrants and for the first time recognizing their political and social rights.
In 2006, Rhalib returned to Spain to shoot a close and personal portrait of the migrant workers of El Ejido, interviewing a cross-section of the migrant population, from illiterate nomads to educated but impoverished Moroccans.
When asked why he made the film, Rhalib gave two reasons. The first reason, he said, was to show Africans what they could expect by emigrating; the second was to draw the attention of European consumers to the conditions in which their fruit and vegetables are produced.
El Ejido, The Law of Profit screens tonight at 7:30 PM at Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario.
