Virginia Film Festival

Over the past two centuries, the carnival has become a central component of American culture. Each year, the carnival industry legally employs thousands of Mexican citizens for the eight-month carnival season under the H-2B visa program. However, H-2B jobs have been compared to modern-day slavery due to complaints of workplace abuse, injuries on the job, diluted wages, and withholding of pay. Protections which domestic workers enjoy are not extended to those who enter the country legally as guest workers. Farewell Ferris Wheel explores the crossroads between economic need and human rights through one of the most recognizable symbols of America. Discussion with writer-director Jamie Sisley and writer-director Miguel ‘M.i.G.’ Martinez, moderated by Douglas Ford

Supported by Light House Studio, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts