| We Feed People | |
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| Directed by | Ron Howard |
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| Music by | Sami Jano |
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Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
We Feed People is a 2022 Americandocumentary film directed byRon Howard that chronicles how chefJosé Andrés and his nonprofitWorld Central Kitchen (WCK) rebuild nations in the wake of disaster, providing food to those affected. It had its world premiere inAustin, Texas, at theSXSW Film Festival and was released on March 19, 2022, in the U.S. and in Canada on May 19, 2022, byNational Geographic Documentary Films. The film received critical acclaim and was nominated for twoPrimetime Emmy Awards at the74th Emmy Awards.
In a conversation about the collaboration process with Emmy-nominated directors of photography Kris Kaczor, enlisted by film director Ron Howard for the film, and Sebastian Lindstrom and Alicia Sully, who for nearly twelve years had already been filming World Central Kitchen, it was clearly noted that Andrés did not want to be the focus of attention for the film. According to Lindstrom, "It's not about José, but it is about José," and had the director said that to Andrés, it would have been "No way—I don’t want this to be about me." There was only one sit-down interview with Andrés, as he was resistant to being on camera and at first having a microphone attached to him.[1]
We Feed People is a fast-paced documentary film that follows chef José Andrés, who rushes from one disaster to another, always with the same humanitarian goal—to feed people in need. The film begins with disaster footage fromHurricane Florence inthe Carolinas in 2018. Then, while vacationing in the Cayman Islands, a massive earthquake strikesHaiti, where Andrés rushes with a small team.
The film features archive footage from the 2017 disaster in Puerto Rico afterHurricane Maria, along with clips ofPresident Trump, one of whom is doing his infamous tossing of paper towels while Andrés and his team are on the ground working to the point of physical and mental exhaustion. From further back in the archives,President Clinton is shown giving Andrés a shout-out after signing theBill Emerson Good Samaritan Act of 1996, which shields food donors from civil and criminal liability. Additional archive footage featuresPresident Biden,Craig Fergusson,David Letterman, and uncredited footage fromFerran Adrià,Bobby Flay,Martha Stewart, andMelania Trump.
For each disaster, we see Andrés and members of theNGOWorld Central Kitchen map the affected area and find a suitable place to build that important first kitchen to cook familiar food for the local residents. We often see Andrés attempting to enlist the aid of established organizations like theRed Cross andFEMA while his team is busy with the logistics of getting the food to the disaster area. Then, with military precision, the Chef Relief Team begins the process of branching out to set up other kitchens and dispatching to provide thousands of meals. The film also depicts the close personal relationships Andrés shares with WCK leaders likeSam Bloch.
The film also offers a personal look at Andrés, from his humble beginnings to his culinary success first in Spain and then in the United States, and at home with his supportive wife and three daughters.
On April 16, 2020, National Geographic Documentary Films announced at the Sundance Film Festival that its next feature project would be from director Ron Howard and producerBrian Grazer, founders of the production companyImagine Documentaries. It was also announced that joining them were Sara Bernstein andJustin Wilkes as producers,Michael Rosenberg and Louisa Velis as executive producers, as well as Nate Mook and Richard Wolfe from World Food Kitchen and Carolyn Bernstein and Ryan Harrington from National Geographic Documentary Films.[2]
In an interview with producer Sara Bernstein, tapping into the nearly one thousand hours of footage already filmed by World Central Kitchen was critical due to the restraints placed on the film's production during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[3]
We Feed People had its world premiere in Austin, Texas, at the SXSW Film Festival,[4] and was released in select theaters throughout the U.S., including theSVA Theater inManhattan, New York, on May 3, 2022, where many dignitaries, includingHillary Clinton with her daughterChelsea Clinton, actorsDrew Barrymore,Richard Gere,Steve Buscemi, andLiev Schreiber, and comedianStephen Colbert attended. Celebrity chefsRachael Ray andEric Ripert also attended the screening, which was followed by a conversation moderated byPadma Lakshmi, host of the American television seriesTop Chef.[5]
The film began streaming onDisney+ on May 27, 2022. On June 16, 2022, National Geographic Documentary Films announced that the film would begin streaming onHulu and that on the following evening it would receive a special screening on theNational Georgraphic Channel.[6]
We Feed People was generally well received by critics. InThe Wall Street Journal, John Anderson writes, "Alternately inspiring and dismaying, the movie is also informative, engaging and reads like an application for the Nobel Peace Prize."[7] Glenn Kenny, critic for the film review websiteRogerEbert.com noted that "It’s refreshing to see an account of a famous food guy who doesn’t wallow in his own character defects."[8] ForThe Hollywood Reporter, Dan Fienberg added that "It captures enough of the methodology behind Andrés’ trajectory to be consistently interesting and it's pragmatic enough not to be exclusively worshipful."[9]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes,100% of 28 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.70/10. The website's consensus reads: "The soul-stirring We Feed People pays tribute to a public figure who stands as a powerful example of how one person can help make a difference."[10]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[11]
We Feed People was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards at the 74th Emmy Awards,[12] and at the 2022 Sun Valley Film Festival inIdaho, Ron Howard won the audience award for Best Feature Film.[13]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
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| Cleveland International Film Festival | March 30 – April 9, 2022 | Best Documentary | Ron Howard | Nominated | [14] |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | July 12, 2022 | Outstanding Cinematography For A Nonfiction Program | We Feed People | Nominated | [15] |
| Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Special | Nominated | [15] | |||
| Sun Valley Film Festival | March 30 – April 3, 2022 | Best Feature Film | Ron Howard | Won | [13] |
| SXSW Film Festival | March 11 – 20, 2022 | Documentary Spotlight | Nominated | [16] |
