Docs / films about food security or poverty reduction
October 6, 2022 2:14 PM Subscribe
Hi! Through the winter months, the poverty reduction working group that I am a part of is seeking to host a couple of "community film nights", and we are looking for suggestions for films that might fit the theme.
These nights will be in lead-up to a "food security fair" type of event in the spring, so we are looking something that will provoke thought, stimulate discussion and inspire proactivity in the leadup to that. So things with a positive type of spin would be great,, thinking about success stories, things that other organizations have done that have had a positive impact on their communities, along those lines... but we are open to all suggestions.
Anything related to food security, breaking the poverty cycle, raising awareness of hidden poverty, reducing stigma, local innovation and community-building. We are in a small town on Vancouver Island Canada, so things with a small-town and/or Indigenous focus would be great too.
We are looking for any specific suggestions of documentaries but open to more movie-like or television format media as well, or even a point in a general direction would be welcome too.
Thanks, kind MeFites!
These nights will be in lead-up to a "food security fair" type of event in the spring, so we are looking something that will provoke thought, stimulate discussion and inspire proactivity in the leadup to that. So things with a positive type of spin would be great,, thinking about success stories, things that other organizations have done that have had a positive impact on their communities, along those lines... but we are open to all suggestions.
Anything related to food security, breaking the poverty cycle, raising awareness of hidden poverty, reducing stigma, local innovation and community-building. We are in a small town on Vancouver Island Canada, so things with a small-town and/or Indigenous focus would be great too.
We are looking for any specific suggestions of documentaries but open to more movie-like or television format media as well, or even a point in a general direction would be welcome too.
Thanks, kind MeFites!
El Contrato is around 20 years old now, but it's quite good, and still (IMO) relevant especially given the treatment of workers who were in Canada under the same program during the pandemic:
This documentary from Min Sook Lee (Tiger Spirit) follows a poverty-stricken father from Central Mexico, along with several of his countrymen, as they make their annual migration to southern Ontario to pick tomatoes. For 8 months a year, the town's population absorbs 4,000 migrant workers who toil under conditions, and for wages, that no local would accept. Yet despite a fear of repercussions, the workers voice their desire for dignity and respect.
Drew Hayden Taylor's Cottagers and Indians:
Hayden Taylor’s friend James Whetung has been cultivating wild rice on the Trent–Severn Waterway. A wild renegade in a fanboat, he has also sown discontent in the area. The Indigenous grandmothers whom he feeds, the water scientists with whom he consults, and those who buy his commercial product love the rice.
The cottage owners, whose waterways are becoming clogged with plants, have concerns about the scale of his seeding. And as their property values dive, they’re getting louder. Their reluctant leader, Larry Wood, is happy to tell Hayden Taylor about the compromises they seek.
There are big issues to consider: food sovereignty, property rights, restricted access to capital on reserves, racism, privilege, contract law and Indigenous poverty. These matters go far beyond Pigeon Lake, touching the lives of Indigenous people and non-Indigenous landowners across Canada.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:42 PM on October 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
This documentary from Min Sook Lee (Tiger Spirit) follows a poverty-stricken father from Central Mexico, along with several of his countrymen, as they make their annual migration to southern Ontario to pick tomatoes. For 8 months a year, the town's population absorbs 4,000 migrant workers who toil under conditions, and for wages, that no local would accept. Yet despite a fear of repercussions, the workers voice their desire for dignity and respect.
Drew Hayden Taylor's Cottagers and Indians:
Hayden Taylor’s friend James Whetung has been cultivating wild rice on the Trent–Severn Waterway. A wild renegade in a fanboat, he has also sown discontent in the area. The Indigenous grandmothers whom he feeds, the water scientists with whom he consults, and those who buy his commercial product love the rice.
The cottage owners, whose waterways are becoming clogged with plants, have concerns about the scale of his seeding. And as their property values dive, they’re getting louder. Their reluctant leader, Larry Wood, is happy to tell Hayden Taylor about the compromises they seek.
There are big issues to consider: food sovereignty, property rights, restricted access to capital on reserves, racism, privilege, contract law and Indigenous poverty. These matters go far beyond Pigeon Lake, touching the lives of Indigenous people and non-Indigenous landowners across Canada.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:42 PM on October 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Pride is a movie about gay & lesbian activists from London who start fundraising for a group of striking Welsh miners. The miners live in a small village where poverty and food insecurity are never far away. It's a really lovely, rousing film and such a crowd-pleaser. It's based on a true story, too!
posted by spiderbeforesunset at 10:52 AM on October 7, 2022
posted by spiderbeforesunset at 10:52 AM on October 7, 2022
Living on One Dollar is a documentary about four young people who try living on a dollar a day for two months in rural Guatemala because that is the average amount impoverished people there live on. What I liked about it is that they fail until they talk to these people and learn some tips for living on that amount. I found it really eye opening.
posted by FencingGal at 7:40 PM on October 7, 2022
posted by FencingGal at 7:40 PM on October 7, 2022
Poor Kids ran on PBS about 10 years ago. Very eye opening
posted by Neeuq Nus at 11:25 AM on October 9, 2022
posted by Neeuq Nus at 11:25 AM on October 9, 2022
Maybe not an exact fit, but, Varda's The Gleaners and I is a wonderful meditation on waste, use, re-use and self sufficency.
posted by zerobyproxy at 12:20 PM on October 10, 2022
posted by zerobyproxy at 12:20 PM on October 10, 2022
Response by poster: Thank you everyone,, these all look fantastic and tick all of the boxes!!!
posted by wats at 11:55 AM on October 15, 2022
posted by wats at 11:55 AM on October 15, 2022
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It's described as "a short, twenty-minute film about the residents of a small, rural town in Canada, who experienced a profound transformation in the 1970’s when they became the test site for Canada’s first universal basic income experiment... Over the course of four years, residents felt first hand the positive changes in their lives of the basic income trial, which transformed their local economy and the course of their lives.... Yet for nearly forty years the data and research was literally buried away from the public. This film brings their experience to light in beautiful cinematic storytelling."
I was at the premiere a few years ago with Dr. Evelyn Forget, who analyzed the buried data and later wrote a book about it. The film is short, but that leaves time for discussion and I believe the film comes with suggested questions and some activities.
Another good rural documentary (that deals both with food security and prisoner justice) is Til the Cows Come Home, about a massive civil disobedience campaign to protect farmland and a program for prisoners in Kingston, Ontario (c. 2010). The hour-long film is free on Vimeo.
Full disclaimer: I'm actually in that movie (as an organizer), and I wrote some discussion questions for it back when the DVD came out. If you want to show that movie, I bet we could find someone from the campaign to join you by video and answer some questions / give updates.
Lastly, I wish everyone knew the story of the 1970s Green Bans in Sydney, Australia. They were anti-poverty, anti-gentrification, pro-ecological, and boldly intersectional (especially given the time). The one feature-length documentary I can think of is from 1985, so it's more slow-paced and a bit hard to find, but there's currently a version of Rock the Foundations on YouTube. It relies heavily on first-person interviews with people who actually participated in those incredible actions, and I find their stories quite powerful. (At 87 minutes it's still easy to sit through.)
Good luck! I'd love to hear what you end up showing.
posted by mcbaya at 2:44 PM on October 6, 2022 [8 favorites]