Calling up-and-coming filmmakers; film, communications and food studies students — and anyone hungry for a deeper understanding of the nation’s food system. A new film competition seeking short films about sustainable food and farming — the Real Food Media Contest — is now open for entries at www.realfoodmedia.org.
The contest invites aspiring filmmakers, or teams of food changemakers alongside communicators, to create a 30-second to four-minute film in one of four styles: documentary, advocacy, experimental, or “wildcard.” The contest invites aspiring filmmakers, or teams of food changemakers alongside communicators, to create a 30-second to four-minute film.
A star-studded panel of judges will select the top film — and the public can also vote online beginning Wednesday, February 12, 2014. Winners will be announced on March 4, 2014.
Cash prizes will be given to the best 10 films and the audience choice winner, including a US$5,000 grand prize and a chance for a screening at the Food and Farm Film Festival in San Francisco in April 2014.
Contest judges include:
- Padma Lakshmi, cookbook author, actress, model and television host
- Michael Pollan, journalist and author, Omnivore’s Dilemma
- Robert Kenner, Academy Award-nominated director, “Food Inc.”
- Eric Schlosser, journalist and author, Fast Food Nation
- Johanna Blakley, managing director, Norman Lear Center, USC
- Byron Hurt, director and producer, “Soul Food Junkies”
- Alice Waters, Chez Panisse and Chez Panisse Foundation
- Keri Putnam, executive director of the Sundance Institute
- The Jamie Oliver Food Foundation (USA)
- Emily Zweber, organic farmer
For documentaries, an entrant can choose among various options, including profiling a local food hero or showcasing an effective sustainable food project. In the advocacy category, entrants can choose to create a persuasive piece focused on several sustainability themes. In the experimental category, entrants can choose to bring to life the concept “the hands that feed us.” Wildcard entrants can shine a light on sustainable food and farming in any manner they choose — funny, serious, or artsy. For more information on each of the categories, visit www.realfoodmedia.org.
The contest, directed by award-winning author and sustainability advocate Anna Lappé, is an initiative of the Real Food Media Project and an extension of the highly regarded Food MythBusters series, viewable at www.foodmyths.org.
“This contest gives an opportunity for filmmakers to generate powerful storytelling about food, farming, and sustainability,” says Anna Lappé, director of the Real Food Media Project. “The more great minds we have thinking about these issues and producing creative ways to deliver the messages, the better.”
“This contest is a great opportunity to support the food movement and independent filmmaking. The two are a perfect fit,” says Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and a contest judge.
“There’s incredible interest today in where our food comes from and how it is produced— and this generation has so much to say about it. The contest provides a great platform for original voices that can help make a change by delivering this increasingly important information,” says journalist Michael Pollan, another contest judge.
The Real Food Media Project is a collaborative initiative to spread the story of our food with creative films, an online film contest, a web-based action center, and grassroots events. Visit www.realfoodmedia.org to learn more about the project and to enter the competition.
