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Orangeville filmmaker gets kudos for food bank feature

October 5, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

After cutting her teeth in a number of roles in the film industry, one Orangeville resident has taken to cutting film as a director.

And Christine Hann has collected a number of independent film festival kudos for her short film, Food for Thought.

The film, which was directed and written by Hann, picked up the award for best Canadian short at the Nollywood Film Festival in September. It also got nods as an official featured selection at the Toronto Independent Film Festival.

It will also be a featured official selection at the Indigo Moon Festival in the United States this month.

Hann is also one of the film’s producers, along with Lori Zozzolotto, Anju Malhotra, and Maria Belenkova-Buford.

Food for Thought is Hann’s directorial debut after a 20-year marketing, event, and project management career. She’s also worked as a producer, production manager, and a production assistant in the past.

The kernel of inspiration for the short film, which is based on the theme of food insecurity, came from her time volunteering at the Orangeville Food Bank with her children during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the film, a retired accountant volunteers at a local food bank in an attempt to replicate his previous career but struggles to understand that clients aren’t numbers and learns that food is a source of sustenance anddignity.

“The goal of the film is to help diminish negative stereotypes of food bank clients,” Hann said in press materials. “The finished work can be used by food banks across Canada as part of their marketing strategy.”

The film, which clocks in at just under eight minutes, follows two characters during a day at a food bank. David, a grandfather supporting his daughter and granddaughter on his meagre senior pension, secretly visits the food bank to provide for his family.

Then there’s Donald, the new volunteer and recently retired accountant. He rigidly follows the policies and procedures of the food bank. In doing so, he neglects the human aspect of his role.

According to a media release about the film: “These two characters come into conflict when David desperately attempts to access groceries from the food bank, but the rule-bound Donald discovers he is ineligible to do so and callously informs him of this. The ensuing conflict reveals that food banks are not only a source of sustenance but also provide humanity and dignity for their clients.”

Hann said in her director’s statement that she was humbled by the dedication of volunteers during her hours at the Orangeville Food Bank.

“They all work together to do the most for the clients and community at large,” she said. “It’s important, especially in today’s climate, to put a spotlight on food insecurity and to show who is actually using services at food banks.

“It’s inspiring to see, even in affluent neighbourhoods, the increasing need for such support.”

Indeed, Heather Hayes, the executive director at the Orangeville Food Bank, has brought the message of rapidly increasing client numbers at the facility.

In April, when Hayes approached Orangeville’s town council, she said she anticipated a minimum 40 per cent increase in need for services among the community by December.

“In the last five months, we’ve seen a 21 per cent increase,” she said in September, and added that the local food bank served 11,051 people in August alone.

“That’s astounding,” she said.

Of that number, 364 people were children, and 288 of those people were senior citizens.

“That’s a huge increase,” Hayes said.

Zozzolotto said Food for Thought was actually filmed at the local food bank and features some of the people who tirelessly volunteer there.

“Christine is an amazing individual who loves the community of Orangeville,” Zozzolotto said. “She lives, works, volunteers and creates in her community.”

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