A Short Film About Tomatoes, Poverty

August 17, 2006 11:02 AM

Does anyone know the name of a short film about the life cycle of a tomato? I think it begins at a farm and ends with homeless families scavenging through heaps of trash....

I think it was Portuguese. It began with an almost manic, Pythonesque tone, and grew bleaker as the the film went on. I never saw an English translation of it, and I'm hoping that in this bright new age of YouTube and Google Video I might find it online somewhere.
Thanks!

posted by maryh to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

Doesn't seem to be what you're looking for, but Transom.org featured a very similar documentary radio piece called The Tomato & The Big Apple:

"For the documentary I selected a tomato in Florida that was destined for New York. The tomato took me from one situation to the other until it ended up on my plate..."

posted by mbrubeck at 11:35 AM on August 17, 2006

I don't think this is what you're looking for, but there's a similar-sounding music video for Daft Punk's "Revolution 909" (1998. Dir. Roman Coppola). Perhaps they took the idea from the short you're trying to find? Who knows...

Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBvtuJkJLCM
posted by rocco at 11:35 AM on August 17, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks mbrubeck & rocco, those are both great links, and I can't help but wonder if they were inspired by the short I'm thinking of. In the film, the tomato's journey goes beyond the dinner table to the leftovers in the garbage, to the trash heap where groups of people where ushered around and allowed to grab whatever scraps they could carry. I keep thinking it took place in Brazil, but I saw it so long ago...
Anyway, it was more of a social critique about waste and production, and the tone was bitterly ironic. (That came through loud & clear even without a translation.)
posted by maryh at 11:51 AM on August 17, 2006

Best answer: How about this one?

Ilha das Flores
(Documentário/12min/1989)
Um tomate é plantado, colhido, transportado e vendido num supermercado, mas apodrece e acaba no lixo. Acaba? Não. Ilha das Flores segue-o até seu verdadeiro final, entre animais, lixo, mulheres e crianças. E então fica clara a diferença que existe entre tomates, porcos e seres humanos.
posted by whatzit at 12:05 PM on August 17, 2006

Best answer: Oops. Copy paste translation loss-age.

Island of Flowers
(Documentar/12 min/1989)
A tomato is planted, grown, transported, and sold in a supermarket, then ends up in the trash. That's it? No. Ilha das Flores follows it to its true end, among animals, trash, women, and children. Then it becomes clear, the differences that exist between tomatos, pigs, and human beings.

Now I want to see it too.
posted by whatzit at 12:07 PM on August 17, 2006

Response by poster: YES!! Thanks so much, whatzit! And here's a link to a two part version of it on YouTube.
posted by maryh at 12:11 PM on August 17, 2006 [1 favorite]

Looks like we both have 13 minutes of popcorn ahead of us. It does seem to be on youtube in two parts.
posted by whatzit at 12:12 PM on August 17, 2006

Response by poster: Better yet, here's a much better version with english subtitles.
You are totally my hero, whatzit. Enjoy!
posted by maryh at 12:25 PM on August 17, 2006 [1 favorite]

For some reason, I thought the question was "life cycle of a tornado", which oddly enough goes well with the "starts with a farm, and ends with homeless families scavenging through heaps of trash".
posted by nomisxid at 1:53 PM on August 17, 2006