''Fat Chance'' is a 1994
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...
(NFB) documentary film directed by Jeff McKay about
fat acceptance.
Summary
The film focuses on Rick Zakowich, a 40-year-old, 400-pound Winnipeg man who sets out to lose half his body weight, but then decides to accept himself the way he is. The film follows Zakowich's journey to self-acceptance, as he goes on to found a self-help group for large-size men and became an activist for fat acceptance.
Production
Director McKay began on the project in 1990, filming for almost two years and editing for almost three years. Originally planned as a half-hour film, ''Fat Chance'' was completed as a 72-minute theatrical documentary, then broadcast in a cutdown version.
The film was written by Bonnie Dickie and produced by Charles Konowal and Joe MacDonald for the NFB.
Reception
Positive reviews for the film included the ''
Toronto Sun
The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...
'', which called it "a work of intense and moving humanity," and the ''
Montreal Mirror
''Montreal Mirror'' or just ''Mirror'' was a free English language alternative newsweekly based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was distributed every Thursday. It had a circulation of 70,000 and reached a quarter of a million readers per week.
...
'', which said "it's really about all obese people who have marked your memory."
The film received seven awards, including a
Peabody Award for its
TVOntario
TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario ...
broadcast and an Achievement Award for outstanding contribution to the advancement of self-respect, dignity, and a better life for fat people, from the
National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance.
''Fat Chance'' was also nominated for a
Genie Award for Best Feature Length Documentary.
See also
*''
A Matter of Fat'', a 1969 NFB documentary about obesity
*
Fat shaming
Social stigma of obesity is broadly defined as bias or discrimination, discriminatory behaviors targeted at overweight and obese individuals because of their weight. Such social stigmas can span one's entire life, as long as excess weight is pr ...
References
External links
*
*{{IMDb title, 0121269
1994 films
1994 documentary films
Fat acceptance movement
National Film Board of Canada documentaries
Films shot in Winnipeg
Peabody Award-winning broadcasts
Documentary films about obesity
1990s Canadian films