Posts Tagged ‘Food Inc.’

Clear your calendar for a long weekend of foliage and film at the New Hampshire Film Festival (NHFF) running in Portsmouth, NH from October 15-18. The festival boasts a screening schedule of over 80 independent films, including big-wigs like Food, Inc., Serious Moonlight, and The Burning Plain. Prepare for a quality sampling of features, documentaries, short dramas, short comedies, animations, and student films. A winner in each category will receive the “Granny”–an award paying homage to The Granite State itself.

The festival has grown exponentially since its 2001 debut at the New Hampshire Film Expo thanks to sponsorship by industry establishments like Avid and Regal Cinemas. Yet NHFF has not lost sight of its simple, yet poetic mission statement: “to celebrate the art of filmmaking.”

Festival attendees–everyone from film students and educators to professional filmmakers and moviegoers–are united not only by the promise of fantastic flicks, but also by the potential for networking and interaction through Q&A sessions with directors, workshops, panel discussions, and gala after-parties. Want to get even more involved? NHFF volunteers are eligible for some pretty sweet perks.

Check out the 2009 trailer on the festival homepage. The clip’s music track guarantees waterworks, so grab a box of tissues; you won’t want to miss a tearful blink of the stunning shots that these films have to offer.

In the vein of Upton Sinclair’s muckraking novel, The Jungle, Emmy award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner’s Food, Inc. reveals the “mechanized underbelly” of our nation’s profit-driven food industry. To counter stomach-churning statistics and images, the film suggests the potential for a healthier America with commentary from “forward-thinking social entrepreneurs,” like Gary Hirshberg, founder of Stonyfield Farm in Londonderry, NH.

“The irony is that the average consumer does not feel very powerful. They think that they are the recipients of whatever industry has put there for them to consume,” said Hirshberg. “Trust me, it’s the exact opposite. Those businesses spend billions of dollars to tally our votes. When we run an item past the supermarket scanner, we’re voting.”

The local flavor was not only captured on film, but also stirred by the documentary. According to Film New Hampshire, panel discussions with food chain founders, government officials, and farmers were scheduled after screenings of Food, Inc. at Concord, NH’s Red River Theatres. Clearly, the film is giving audiences something to chew on.

Food, Inc. debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2008, but its limited release began in the United States this past June. Visit Play Dates for a schedule of premiere screenings at select theatres near you; the film will achieve wider release this fall.

Play the Food, Inc. trailer below to whet–or perhaps spoil–your appetite.