Bill Pullman - The Fruit Hunters - Eye Steel Film

''The Fruit Hunters'' is a 2012 feature documentary film about exotic fruit cultivators and preservationists. It is directed by

Yung Chang Yung Chang is a Chinese Canadian film director and was part of the collective member directors of Canadian film production firm EyeSteelFilm. Chang is a graduate of Concordia University's Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema in Montreal (BFA 99), the ...

and co-written by Chang and Mark Slutsky, and inspired by

Adam Leith Gollner Adam Leith Gollner is a Canadian writer and musician who lives in Montreal. He has written two books, and is the former editor of '' Vice Magazine''. Gollner has also played in bands including We Are Molecules, Dessert, and the Hot Pockets. Ea ...

's 2008 book of the same name. In addition to documentary sequences, the film also uses CGI animation, models and performers to stage real and imagined moments in the history of fruit.

Film subjects

Subjects in the film include actor Bill Pullman, who was not featured in Gollner's book. The filmmakers became aware of his interest in fruit thanks to a 2009 '' New York Times'' profile. The film follows Pullman's efforts to develop a communal orchard near his Hollywood Hills residence. Two staff members of

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is an botanic garden with extensive collections of rare tropical plants including palms, cycads, flowering trees, and vines. It is located in the city of Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, just south of Miami, s ...

are shown exploring jungles in Asia and South America in search of plants to graft and preserve. ''The Fruit Hunters'' also features a Honduran scientist trying to find an alternative to the Cavendish banana, an Italian cultivator who studies Renaissance paintings to identify new varieties, and an indigenous guide in Borneo.

Development and production

The idea for ''The Fruit Hunters'' was first pitched at a forum at

Hot Docs The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...

, utilizing footage with Bill Pullman. The National Film Board of Canada and

EyeSteelFilm EyeSteelFilm is a Montreal-based Canada, Canadian Film, cinema production company co-founded by Daniel Cross (filmmaker), Daniel Cross and Mila Aung-Thwin, dedicated to socially engaged cinema, bringing social and political change through cinematic ...

agreed to co-produce the film, which also has funding from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Telefilm Canada and SODEC. Chang, Slutsky and Gollner were friends before working on the film, having once lived in the same building in Montreal.

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 100% based on 7 critics, with an average rating of 6.8/10. Stephanie Merry of '' The Washington Post'' said that "Hearing the personalities describe the transcendent tastes of different fruits has me wanting to hop the next plane to Hawaii just to taste a water apple". According to Daphne Howland of '' The Village Voice'', the film have "many haphazard details and much talk of obsession", while "the lush work by cinematographer Mark Ellam is something of a guide, sensuous and outstanding". John DeFore of '' The Hollywood Reporter'' called the documentary "Delicious".

References

External links

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EyeSteelFilm webpageNational Film Board webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fruit Hunters, The 2012 films Films based on non-fiction books National Film Board of Canada documentaries 2012 documentary films EyeSteelFilm films Fruit production Documentary films about agriculture Films directed by Yung Chang Documentary films about food and drink 2010s Canadian films