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''The Fruit Hunters'' is a 2012 feature documentary film about exotic fruit cultivators and preservationists. It is directed by Yung Chang and co-written by Chang and Mark Slutsky, and inspired by Adam Leith Gollner'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.
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
''The Fruit Hunters'' is a 2012 feature documentary film about exotic fruit cultivators and preservationists. It is directed by Yung Chang and co-written by Chang and Mark Slutsky, and inspired by Adam Leith Gollner'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 actorBill Pullman
William Pullman (born December 17, 1953) is an American actor. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater, he was an adjunct professor at Montana State University before deciding to pursue acting. He made his film debut in ''R ...
, who was not featured in Gollner's book. The filmmakers became aware of his interest in fruit thanks to a 2009 ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' 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 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
Cavendish bananas are the fruits of one of a number of banana cultivars belonging to the Cavendish subgroup of the AAA banana cultivar group. The same term is also used to describe the plants on which the bananas grow.
They include commerciall ...
, 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, utilizing footage with Bill Pullman. TheNational 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 ...
and EyeSteelFilm agreed to co-produce the film, which also has funding from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
, Telefilm Canada
Telefilm Canada is a Crown corporation reporting to Canada's federal government through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Headquartered in Montreal, Telefilm provides services to the Canadian audiovisual industry with four regional offices in ...
and SODEC.
Chang, Slutsky and Gollner were friends before working on the film, having once lived in the same building in Montreal.
Reception
Onreview aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
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
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' 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 Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'', 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
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' called the documentary "Delicious".
References
External links
*EyeSteelFilm 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