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Thu, Jan 14, 2010
Addressing the timely topic of food production and consumption, the Wexner Center presents Field & Screen: Films about Our Food throughout the month of February. This series features films, discussions, and other activities that address the state of the global food industry today. From Food, Inc. to Black Gold, Field & Screen showcases some of the best recent documentaries to address such issues as the food industry’s impact on the environment, the nutrition of food, and the health of the general population. Also part of the series are films that illustrate the wonderful pleasures that food offers.
Related events include a kickoff panel discussion, an appearance by experimental artist Natalie Jeremijenko, a fair-trade coffee tasting, and a community-supported agriculture fair. Most screenings will be followed by Now What?, brief talks led by Michael Jones of Local Matters (a nonprofit that promotes access to local food, and more) on how to take immediate action on specific issues related to that night’s films.
Notes Dave Filipi, organizer of the series and curator in the Wexner Center’s film department, “Field & Screen provides an occasion for reflection on these topics and will, we hope, spark further discussion, as well as individual and group action. There is no denying that, taken as a whole, the film series and related events present a rather critical appraisal of the modern agriculture industry while touting the benefits of the alternatives. That said, many questions are still left unanswered.”
Tickets for all screenings, including double features, are $7 for general public; $5 for members, students, and senior citizens; and $3 for children under 12. Films are screened in the Wexner Center’s Film/Video Theater, at 1871 N. High St. inside the Wexner Center; related events are in the Film/Video Theater unless otherwise noted. More info: (614)-292-3535 or http://www.wexarts.org.
The Field & Screen series was organized by David Filipi, Wexner Center curator of film/video, with additional programs organized by Amanda Potter, the Wexner Center’s educator for public and university programs, and Shelly Casto, the Wexner Center’s director of education.
Support for Field & Screen is provided by Cardinal Health. Significant contributions are also made by the Rohauer Collection Foundation. All film/video programs and events at the Wexner Center receive support from the Corporate Annual Fund of the Wexner Center Foundation and Wexner Center members. Field & Screen is supported by community partners Local Matters, Dine Originals Columbus, Wayward Seed Farm, Global Gallery, and Edible Columbus.
FIELD & SCREEN SCHEDULE
Wednesday, February 3 at 7 pm
GenWex Presents: AgriCulture: A Panel Discussion — FREE
Central Ohio is home to an extraordinary network of farms, producers, and restaurants that make local, sustainable food a top priority. The panel—Jaime Moore from Wayward Seed Farms in Marysville and Jeni Britton Bauer from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams—talk about their working relationships and the future of local food in Ohio with Amy Bodiker from Chefs Collaborative, a national network that advocates for sustainable food in the culinary community. The discussion will continue at a reception immediately following the panel.
Thursday, February 4
DOUBLE FEATURE:
7 pm –The Gleaners and I (Agnès Varda, 2000; 82 mins., 35mm)
8:50 pm — Our Daily Bread (Nikolaus Geyrhalter, 2005; 92 mins., 35mm)
Double feature preceded by Fridays at the Farm (Richard Power Hoffman, 2006; 19 mins.)
In The Gleaners and I, famed French filmmaker Agnès Varda and a small crew travel through France to investigate the world of “gleaners”—those who survive by gathering the food left behind by farmers after harvest and their contemporary descendents. Narrated by Varda, the film is a beguiling essay on poverty, thrift, and the curious place of scavenging in French history and culture. Our Daily Bread vividly shows where our food comes from by examining the often barbarous world of industrialized agriculture and food production. Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s beautiful cinematography provides a stark contrast to the environments he depicts: a sleek abattoir, a pesticide-doused field of sunflowers, or an assembly line covered with baby chicks.
The program begins with Fridays at the Farm, a charming film about the joy one family experiences by participating in their community-supported farm.
Friday, February 5
7 pm –The End of the Line (Rupert Murray, 2009; 83 mins., video)
8:35 pm –Food, Inc. (Robert Kenner, 2008; 94 mins., 35mm)
The End of the Line chronicles the devastating effects of the modern love affair with fish as food. Filmed over two years around the world, the film follows reporter Charles Clover as he confronts politicians, restaurateurs, and food producers about their harmful policies, practices, and collective impact on this crucial link in the global food chain. Perhaps nothing has brought the industrialization of the food supply to the attention of the general populace more than Food, Inc. Featuring interviews with notable experts such as Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser, the documentary reveals the often shocking truth about how our food supply is controlled by a handful of corporations that value profits over public health.
Thursday, February 11 at 7 pm
The Great Food Speedup: From Hunter-Gatherers to Microwaves (app. 100 mins., video)
Introduced by archivist Rick Prelinger
Filled with visions of meat-production lines, supermarkets, and herbicide-withered weeds, the industry- and government-produced films packaged in The Great Food Speedup show how the American food system accelerated into hormone-fueled homogeneity. Highlights include This Is Hormel (ca. 1964) and Dow Chemical’s Death to Weeds (1947). Filmmaker, writer, and archivist Rick Prelinger introduces these and other films from the Prelinger Archives, a collection of 60,000 educational and industrial films he founded. (The Library of Congress acquired the archive 2002.)
Tuesday, February 16 at 4:30 pm
Artist’s Talk: Natalie Jeremijenko – FREE
Is what’s good for the goose literally good for humans as well? Artist-engineer Natalie Jeremijenko talks today about her latest project, a “cross-species cookbook” that emphasizes connections with man’s feathered friends. “I want people to interact richly with their cohabitants,” she says. “In this case, tongue first.” Jeremijenko is an internationally acclaimed artist whose work has been included in museums and festivals around the world, including the Whitney Biennial and Documenta. She is currently a professor at New York University, where she directs the xdesign Environmental Health Clinic, which develops and prescribes locally optimized and often playful strategies to remedy environmental systems. Cosponsored by Ohio State’s Department of Art.
Thursday, February 18
7 pm – Black Gold (Marc and Nick Francis, 2005; 78 mins., video)
9 pm – Darwin’s Nightmare (Hubert Sauper, 2004; 107 mins., 35mm)
Columbus’s Global Gallery hosts a free fair-trade coffee tasting between films. From hand-picked bean to $3 cup, Black Gold offers an eye-opening exploration of the global coffee business—a ruthless $80 billion industry that’s made coffee the most valuable trading commodity after oil. Exposing the plight of struggling coffee farmers, Black Gold puts a human face on a systemic injustice largely ignored by caffeinated consumers in the developed world.
Darwin’s Nightmare is both savage and clear-eyed in its depiction of globalization and its winner- take-all attitude. The film’s focus is on the Nile perch—an alien fish species introduced into Tanzania’s Lake Victoria solely for purposes of export. Since then, the fish has destroyed the lake’s ecosystem, leaving locals to survive on bones and rotting carcasses.
Thursday, February 25
5–7 pm –Meet Your Farmers: A CSA Fair
7 pm – Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution (Jean-Paul Jaud, 2008; 112 mins., video)
9 pm – Babette’s Feast (Gabriel Axel, 1987; 102 mins., 35mm)
As a lead-in to the final Field and Screen films, representatives from several local farms, including Wayward Seed Farm, will be in the café to speak with guests individually about the virtues and possibilities of community supported agriculture (CSA). Guests can learn more about the simplicity of finding food raised close to home in a relaxed and conversational atmosphere. Snacks will be available from several of the farms. Presented in collaboration with Wayward Seed Farm and Local Matters.
In Food Beware, the mayor of a small French village resolves to make the school’s lunch menu organic as a response to growing concerns over recent agribusiness practices. Incorporating the testimony of farmers, politicians, health-care workers, and parents, the film explores the notion that food may be responsible for a general rise in cancer rates, infertility, and other health problems.
In Babette’s Feast, the aging daughters of a Danish minister rekindle their appreciation of life’s simple pleasures with a spectacular feast prepared by their Parisian housekeeper. Winner of an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, it’s the perfect reminder of the pleasures brought by lovingly prepared food.
