Indie Films Get ND Screenings

Moviegoers weary of the formulaic and over-produced Hollywood blockbusters that glut theatres during the summer don’t necessarily have to resort to home video for an alternative. North Dakota fans of independent movies can see regional premieres of two very different pictures made in 2008 – a sobering documentary and an alternately wild and insightful coming-of-age comedy over this next week.

Opening Friday, July 10 for a run at the Fargo Theatre is recent festival favorite “Food, Inc.,” filmmaker Robert Kenner’s probing look into the American food industry.

Playing at Minot’s Oak Park Theatre on July 14 and 15 only is “The Graduates,” an award-winning teen comedy produced by actress and former Minot resident Holly Ellis, who also has a role in the film and will speak after the screenings.

“Food, Inc.” is a thought-provoking exposé of the relationship between America’s growing health problems with the exponential growth in mass-production-oriented food conglomerates and government subsidies. Journalist and author Eric Schlosser (“Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All American Meal”) co-produced the film with director Kenner and several other noted producers of documentaries.

Scientific advances have permitted American farmers to grow larger crops and bigger animals in shorter periods of time at lower costs. At the same time, the film shows, they have also led to corporate consolidation, with fewer but larger and more mechanized food processing facilities designed for a more efficient – but less healthy – conversion of plants and animals into consumer products.

The film notes how chickens and cattle have been scientifically bred to provide the meat that consumers desire, yet hidden cameras reveal how mistreatment in the final step of the process creates bruises and can introduce bacteria that often taint that very meat. Many farmers are required by their corporate customers to raise their animals according to specific requirements, yet they have no control once those animals are shipped to the now very few and massive slaughterhouses in the country.

Other farmers are required by laws to grow only certain crops purchased from certain suppliers. The film depicts government subsidies making it impossible for foreign farmers to compete and driving them to become the illegal immigrants that fuel the American food-processing factories, even in collusion with immigration authorities.

Tellingly, several major food corporations refused to respond to interview requests to present their side of the story, and some farmers agreed to speak only if their faces were not revealed.

A few instances are shown of food suppliers or farmers who try to work within the system to provide healthy alternatives in the mass-market and to help educate consumers to what they are actually eating.

The film asks questions, presents facts and interviews people who work in or deal with the food industry. It obviously sets out with a specific agenda and might benefit from a deeper exploration of benefits achieved by science in food research.

Nevertheless, “Food, Inc.” remains a highly persuasive argument that corporate and government regulations are directly responsible for the unhealthy food purchasing decisions made by most consumers. It can be a wake-up call for viewers to monitor and possibly alter their food purchases since corporate policy is motivated by what is profitable and what is not.

“The Graduates” is a low-budget ($95,000) feature shot with an HDCAM in Ocean City, Md., written, produced and directed by Maryland native Ryan Gielen. It follows the adventures of four friends who want to celebrate their high school graduation at the beach, but their experiences over the next week lead them to realize there might be more to life than having a good time.

Gielen’s script starts as a typical teen comedy with four buddies heading off to a nearby resort town after finishing their senior year of high school, planning to do as much partying with alcohol, drugs and sex as they can before the summer’s over and they must split up for college or jobs.

The first part of the movie is much like many hit teen comedies from Hollywood, but about half way through a more serious undercurrent starts to dominate. Giesen said, “I made ‘The Graduates’ for everyone who wants coming-of-age comedies to be more than just a series of empty gags.”

The strength of “The Graduates” is in its characters, both in Giesen’s original script and his assured direction of the no-name but very talented cast, who should all have good careers ahead of them. The actors are able to present the expected stereotypes and gradually give their characters a sense of self-realization and depth usually missing from generic teen sex comedies. They come off as recognizable types not difficult to associate with the friends and acquaintances one may recall from real life high school and college parties.

Minot N.D. native Holly Lynn Ellis plays the bit part of Meredith Snarky and served as one of the movie’s producers. Zak Williams, son of actor Robin Williams makes his acting debut in a small role. “The Graduates” has won several festival awards including best comedy in Seattle and the Director Discovery Award in Rhode Island.