The Fruit Hunters

This screening took place on Friday, February 8, 2013 at 6:00 pmYukon Arts Centre

You can find them deep in the jungles of Borneo, in the hills of Umbria and perhaps even in your own backyard. They are fruit hunters, the subjects of the new film from acclaimed director Yung Chang (Up the Yangtze, China Heavyweight) and Montreal's dynamic documentary production house, EyeSteelFilm (Last Train Home, Taqwacore, RIP-A Remix Manifesto) . The Fruit Hunters travels across culture, history and geography to show how intertwined we are with the fruits we eat. Our guides are devoted fruit fanatics. Veteran actor Bill Pullman’s obsession leads him on a crusade to create a community orchard in the Hollywood Hills. Two adventurers scour the jungle for rare mangos, hoping to intervene before the plants are steamrolled by industrialization. A pioneering scientist races to breed bananas resistant to a deadly fungus that threatens the worldwide crop. And fruit detectives investigate Renaissance-era paintings for clues, hoping to rediscover lost fruits. This is a beautifully made documentary and its mouth-watering, globe-trotting fun makes a clear case for preserving the earth's biodiversity over paving it with monocultures of food crops.