The true life tale of Hormel workers on strike is paired tonight with Richard Linklater's take on Fast Food Nation.

American Dream, which chronicles a six-month strike at a Hormel plant in Minnesota, serves as a fascinating window into one aspect of our industrialized food production. Director Barbara Kopple also depicts the tragic consequences when workers get caught between a food processing giant and misguided union leadership. (98 mins., video) Kopple previously turned her camera on labor conflict in the famed documentary Harlan County U.S.A. (1976), which depicted a year-long strike at a Kentucky coal mine.

Richard Linklater's riff on the best-selling exposé Fast Food Nation stars Greg Kinnear as the marketing director for fast food giant Mickey's, who discovers the horrible truth about how his hamburgers damage not only our collective health but also our social fabric. Set in the fictional town of Cody, Colorado, the film weaves together three stories, which also involve undocumented immigrants working in a meat-processing plant and a teenager working in a burger joint. Says the New York Times' A. O. Scott, "Mr. Linklater covers a lot of ground, and the result is an unusually funny, moving and intellectually demanding movie." (116 mins., 35mm)

Fast Food Nation begins at 8:50 PM.

Field & Screen 2011 is supported by community partners Dine Originals Columbus, Global Gallery, Local Matters, Slow Food Columbus, and Wayward Seed Farm.


Fast Food Nation


Fast Food Nation Interview