Fifty million people in the U.S. struggle with hunger—a shocking statistic given that we, as a nation, have the means to provide healthy and affordable meals to all Americans.
In their new film, A Place at the Table (Participant Media), directors Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush examine the hunger crisis in America through the lens of three people who are living through it: Barbie, a single Philadelphia mother who grew up in poverty and struggles to provide a better life for her two children; Rosie, a Colorado fifth-grader who depends on the charity of friends and neighbors for meals and has trouble concentrating in school; and Tremonica, a Mississippi second-grader whose asthma and health issues are affected by insufficient daily nutrition.
The film features interviews with experts, including sociologist Janet Poppendieck, author Raj Patel, and nutrition policy leader Marion Nestle, as well as activists including Witnesses to Hunger’s Mariana Chilton, Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio, and Oscar®-winning actor Jeff Bridges.
From the company who brought you Food Inc., A Place at the Table producer Julie Goldman and Participant Media executives – Courtney Sexton, VP Documentary Films, and Alden Stoner, VP Social Action Film Campaigns – join us for Q&A following a screening of the film. LMU SFTV Professor Marilyn Beker, author of The Screenwriter Activist: Writing Social Issue Movies, moderates. The program will include a case study covering how filmmakers can use their craft to impact social change and action, as well as ways to develop effective campaigns to pitch and market social issue films.
This event is a program of The Steed Symposium, the film school’s annual industry event.
Game Changers: A Place at the Table
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Mayer Theatre, Communications Arts Bldg, LMU campus
12- 3 p.m. (includes box lunch)
