Good Screenings

The Hunger Season

Directed by Beadie Finzi

Synopsis

Filmed on location in the US, Europe and Southern Africa, The Hunger Season tells the story of a young teacher called Justice and the children in his care living in the heart of rural Swaziland as they struggle to survive a year of drought and diminishing food handouts.

About the director

Beadie Finzi

Beadie Finzi has worked in documentaries since 1994. Credits as a director include a three part documentary series Gifted on child prodigy Julian Bliss plus the dance series The Rough Guide To Choreography for Channel 4 Television.

In 2002, Beadie joined forces with fellow film maker Rupert Murray. They co-directed the curious Outsiders documentary on a cult lo-fi music scene in the US, followed by the drama/performance hybrid This Was My War based on the build up to the last Iraq War. In 2005 Beadie and Rupert made their first feature length documentary Unknown White Male about a young amnesiac rediscovering his life. It was selected for Sundance and made the Oscars Shortlist in 2006.

Beadie went on to direct the The Hunger Season, an emotional essay on the food crisis gripping the planet. This film asks why, in spite of the Millennium Goals and a massive UN food aid programme, we are failing to solve the problem of hunger.

Beadie Finzi is also one of the founding directors of The Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation, dedicated to reinventing funding and distribution models for British documentary filmmakers. As well as funding films such as BAFTA winner Chosen, Tribeca winner We Are Together, double Sundance winner Afghan Star and The End of the Line, due for release across 55 cinema screens on World Oceans Day, the Foundation brokers relationships between filmmakers and the NGO and brand sectors in the UK to create better, more effective films.

More Information

Across the world a massive food crisis is unfolding.
Climate Change, increasing consumption in China and India, the dash for Biofuels are causing hitherto unimagined food shortages and rocketing prices. This has already provoked unrest and violence from the Middle East to South America and there is no end in sight in the coming months.

The people who are going to be most sorely affected are those already living on the razors edge of poverty, those dependent on food aid for their very survival. As commodity prices have risen by 50%, the UN Agencies have barely half the budget they need to meet the needs of 73 million hungry people they are currently feeding. We could be facing one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes of all time if governments do not commit more resources. It is time to examine the system of food aid and question the extent of our commitment to ending hunger.

Over the last two years we have been filming an unfolding humanitarian crisis in one small African nation Swaziland, and using this example to ask why, in spite of our incredible agricultural productivity, in spite of the Millennium Goals and a massive UN food aid programme, are we failing to solve the problem of hunger?

Filmed on location in the US, Europe and Southern Africa, the narrative tells the story of a young teacher called Justice and the children in his care living in the heart of rural Swaziland as they struggle to survive a year of drought and diminishing food handouts. The film connects their story to the Swazi Government, to the UN agencies and ultimately Western governments, unravelling the forces at work in one crisis, charting the players and decision makers who actions will determine the fate of one small community.

The Hunger Season forces us to consider the relationship between our governments, NGO’s and the fate of countries in the developing world. To examine how the system of food aid works and in some cases falters, and to consider whether or not our governments are prioritising sufficient resources to end the cycle of hunger.

Choose a version