Nailed to the Bottom

Director & Producer: Poul-Erik Heilbuth
Produced by: DR
Duration: 58 min.
Year of Production: 2004
Original Title: Den Dyre Støtte

Winner of: Prix Italia, Current Affairs, 2004

Thousands of miles from Brussels, Fernandez Chaves drives his small herd of cows into the stables. Most of us probably think that this poor farmer from a remote province of the Dominican Republic can keep his three cows without a single thought as to what Europeans do in order to secure their own farmers.

But Fernandez is all too familiar with the round tins of powdered milk from Europe. They have taken over the shelves at the local general store and forced his farm onto its knees. He has even nicknamed the tins– Vaca Conquistadora–“the cow that conquers”. EU subsidies mean that powdered milk is sold so cheaply that 20,000 farmers have been forced from their farms in one of the poorest countries in Central America.

This documentary has one crucial aim: to make viewers understand how the Europeans have intentionally or unintentionally become an extremely dangerous antagonist for people who are trying to keep starvation at bay and survive. We see them at the borders of Europe, climbing fences and walls. Thousands and thousands of young people that might have been farmers cultivating their land are now seeking a livelihood and survival in Europe.