''Now, Forager'' is a 2012
indie film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in ...
directed by
Jason Cortlund
Jason Cortlund (born Jason Colacicco in Oakland, California, USA) is a director, writer and producer. He studied writing and film at the University of Oregon, received a master's degree in screenwriting from the University of Texas, and was a post ...
and Julia Halperin.
''Now, Forager'', billed as "A film about love and fungi", presents the story of a couple, Regina (Tiffany Esteb) and Lucien (Jason Cortlund, who also wrote and co-directed), who forage for wild mushrooms in forests and sell them door to door to Manhattan restaurants. As well as being
mycologicists (experts on fungi), both are also expert chefs and slow food aficionados. As their relationship develops, Regina takes a better-paying job at a restaurant, which strains the couple's relationship. A cross-country road trip planned by Lucien ends poorly in New Jersey, and Lucien – from financial desperation – takes a catering job, where his dilettante client's interferences drive him to inner rage.
[
]Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
described ''Now, Forager'' as "An uncompromising film about two people who don't deserve each other — but maybe nobody deserves either one of them", enthusing that "The images of wild mushrooms... and the shots of food prep by cinematographer Jonathan Nastasi, approach art".[
The original screenplay was also by Cortlund, himself an amateur mycologist and member of the ]New York Mycological Society
The New York Mycological Society is a nonprofit organization of people who share an interest in mycology as well as in mycophagy. The present NYMS was reincarnated in 1962 by the composer John Cage and a small group of other mushroom lovers and stu ...
. The title directly references Walt Whitman's American transcendentalist poem
The Untold Want
from ''Leaves of Grass''—and less directly the 1942 Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...
and Paul Henreid
Paul Henreid (November 10, 1908 – March 29, 1992) was an Austrian-British-American actor, director, producer, and writer. He is best remembered for two film roles; Victor Laszlo in ''Casablanca'' and Jerry Durrance in ''Now, Voyager'', bo ...
vehicle, '' Now, Voyager''.[''.
''Now, Forager'' was a nominee at the ]Gotham Independent Film Awards 2012
The 22nd Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards, presented by the Independent Filmmaker Project, were held on November 26, 2012. The nominees were announced on October 18, 2012. The ceremony was hosted by Mike Birbiglia.
During the award ceremony ...
in the category of Breakthrough Director (the category winner was Benh Zeitlin for '' Beasts of the Southern Wild''). The film was an official selection at the 2012 New Directors/New Films festival (US premiere), the 2012 Napa Valley Film Festival and the 2012 New Orleans Film Festival, won the Best Feature Drama award at Devour! The Food Film Fest Devour! The Food Film Fest (formerly the Slow Motion Food Film Fest) is a Canadian Film festival dedicated to films about food and wine culture. The five-day festival takes place annually in late fall in the Wolfville, Kings County, Nova Scotia. I ...
, and was screened at many other festivals and arts institutions worldwide. It also won the Audience Award and a Theater Owners' Recommendation at the 2012 International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg
The Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (german: Internationales Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg), often referred to by the German-language initialism IFFMH, is an annual film festival established in 1952 hosted jointly by the citi ...
.
''Now, Forager'' had its World Premiere at the 2012 International Film Festival Rotterdam,[ and was distributed in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg by Imagine Films Distribution (theatrical, 2013), Filmfreak Distributie (DVD, 2013), and Film1 (television, 2014) under the alternate title ''Love & Fungi''. The film was distributed in theaters and on television in Poland under the title ''Tam, gdzie rosna grzyby'' The Kaunas International Film Festival also released ''Now, Forager'' in theaters in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.]
External links
*
*
*
*
References
{{reflist, refs=
[{{cite web , url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/now-forager-a-film-about-love-and-fungi-2012 , title=Now, Forager: A Film About Love and Fungi , author=Roger Ebert , authorlink=Roger Ebert , date=October 10, 2012 , work=RogerEbert.com , accessdate=September 4, 2018]
[{{cite web , url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/forager-film-review-296754 , title=Now, Forager: Film Review , author=Neil Young
]