Byline: Melissa Muller

Seven new documentaries about the sustainable food movement were previewed last night at the “Hungry Filmmakers” festival, a showcase for the burgeoning crop of films on farming. The recurring theme in all of them: no farms, no food, no future.

One documentary, “What is Organic About Organic?” directed and produced by Shelly Rogers, was highlighted at the event at Anthology Film Archives, along with excerpts of the six others.

While a grad student at New York University, Shelly Rogers took a class on socially relevant documentary filmmaking. For the final project, she produced a fifteen-minute exploratory film about the obstacles facing organic farmers. Although Rogers, a native of rural East Tennessee, had no prior connection to the growing grassroots revolution against conventional farming, she felt “a responsibility to the farmers,” to let their stories be told, not wanting to “let them down.” So she got a grant, raised funds and drove a small crew around the country to produce a full-length version of her project. In the process, she became an advocate in her own right for a healthier and environmentally friendly food system.

Four years after undertaking the project, Rogers’ film is near completion and ready to hit the film festivals. “What’s Organic About Organic?” travels from farm fields to government meetings to industry trade shows, to highlight the negative effects of conventional agriculture and to explain why buying organic food is not only a personal choice but also a social responsibility. Moreover, the film illustrates that our health and the health of the planet are interrelated.

Organizers of the sold-old event include Ms. Rogers and Jimmy Carbone, the owner of an East Village eatery and bar, Jimmy’s No. 43, which supports the sustainable food community. Cathy Erway, author of the well-known blog, “Not Eating Out in New York,” curated the films, and Anna Lappé, a best-selling author of works on sustainability and food politics, moderated a panel discussion. The audience had an opportunity to continue the conversation and mingle with filmmakers at an after party hosted at a jam-packed Jimmy’s No. 43, where local food producers presented an array of gratuitous local delicacies.

Documentaries about the food industry are coming out in groves, which is why the organizers have already scheduled another Hungry Filmmakers event to take place on 23 February 2010. Mascha Poppenk, a co-producer of another of the event’s featured films, “Grown in Detroit,” looks upon the onslaught of food industry related films as a way to spread the word about the grassroots movement. She says, “what’s great about documentaries is there’s no competition, we are all helping each other.”

For most of the filmmakers present, these films are their first attempt at filmmaking as advocacy for the food movement. However, one of the films, “Big River,” produced by Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney, is a sequel to the filmmakers’ 2006 documentary, “King Corn,” which explores the magnitude of health problems that result from the American corn industry. “Big River” takes the viewer on a journey down the Mississippi River, from the American heartland to the Gulf of Mexico to trace the damaging effects of corn production on our water system and on the environment as a whole, aspects of the industry that the first film did not touch upon.

“Big River” co-producer, Ian Cheney, says “often documentary filmmakers blow all their energy on the filmmaking process,” and are unable to find the energy to promote their films for advocacy.

Just Food, a New York based not-for-profit organization, which connects local farmers and urban dwellers, is in the planning stage for using these and other food related films as “visual advocacy” in the near future, says Jacquie Berger, Just Food’s Executive Director.

A big challenge that the filmmakers face is getting these films out of the circle of people who are already aware of these issues. Rogers says “reaching an audience outside of the obvious choir is a challenge that we all face in this circle, not just filmmakers.” These food movement events bring out “the same people over and over,” says Rogers, adding “while it’s great to see old friends,” in order for the films to make a difference, she is “relying on the choir to spread the word.”

Films screened at the “Hungry Filmmakers” event include:

“What’s Organic About Organic?”

By Shelley Rogers

“Big River” and “Truck Farm”

By Curt Ellis & Ian Cheney

“The Greenhorns”

By Severine von Tscarner Fleming

“Grown in Detroit”

By Manfred & Mascha Poppenk

“Faces From the New Farm”

By Liz Thylander, Kat Shiffler & Lara Sheets

[As yet untitled film on climate change and the food system]

By Sara Grady

The next Hungry Filmmakers is scheduled to take place on 23 February 2010.

Check the “Hungry Filmmakers” blog for more info on upcoming events and links to filmmakers websites:

http://hungryfilmmakers.blogspot.com/

Tags | "What's Organic About Organic?", Hungry Filmmakers, Jimmy Carbone, Jimmy's No 43, Shelly Rogers