Oregon Humanities Center “Sustenance” Event
with guest directors Helen De Michiel and Sophie Constantinou
1:00 PM UO Baker Downtown Center
When kids are strung out on sugary snacks and industrial niblets, attentiveness in the classroom is impossible. This simple revelation inspired a diverse group of Berkeley parents to challenge the entrenched notion of which foods should be served in schools. Their resolute efforts led to the Berkeley School Lunch Initiative, a revolutionary program that substitutes healthy organic meals for the previous concoctions of sweeteners, oils, and processed comestibles. San Francisco filmmakers Helen De Michiel and Sophie Constantinou saw the Berkeley School District’s nutritional efforts as a model deserving wider dissemination. Through webisodes, an impending documentary, and media socials like this event, The Lunch Love Community Documentary Project engages not with just food issues related to youth, but with the broader consideration of how localized activism inspires larger systemic change. The filmmakers will screen webisodes from http://www.lunchlovecommunity.org/capturing key aspects of Berkeley’s innovative lunch program, as well as introduce prominent food reform advocates to encourage a dialogue surrounding food literacy.
Helen De Michiel is a director, writer and producer whose work includes film, television and video installations. Her 1995 feature film Tarantella, starring Mira Sorvino, was shown at the Seattle Film Festival and won the Audience Award at the 1996 Torino International Woman’s Film Festival. Her documentary, Turn Here Sweet Corn(1990) was seen nationally on the PBS series POV. From 1996-2010, she served as the National Director for The National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture.
Sophie Constantinou’s directing credits include Divided Loyalties (Golden Gate Award, 1998 SF International Film Festival), a personal exploration of the conflict in Cyprus and Between the Lines, a lyrical documentary about women who cut themselves. She also has numerous cinematography credits including PBS’s Maquilapolis and HBO’s Unchained Memories.
Interview with directors http://www.sf360.org/?pageid=13195