Film: A Food Story
Director: Pablo Aira
Synopsis: There is a place located in Tenerife, where humans and animals live together with a simple and extraordinary resource, food waste.
They pick it up, segregate it, cook it, store it, and create compost out of it, maintaining 40 people and 400 animals, with just the waste of one single supermarket.
In a new Exclusive interview on Blazing Minds ahead of the Southend Film Festival I got a chance to ask Director Pablo Aira a few questions about his documentary film ‘A Food Story’ which have been selected to play at the festival.
A Food Story will be playing at the Southend Film Festival on Sunday 8th June at 5pm as part of the Short Films From Spain.
Q. Your film A Food Story has been selected to play at the Southend Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
A. A Food Story is a short documentary that explores the issue of food waste through an NGO that takes advantage of supermarket waste to subsist. While showing how they operate, the film highlights how much perfectly good food is wasted every day in supermarkets around the world, suggesting that solutions like this one could be among the many ways to tackle the issue.
Q. How did the idea for the documentary come about?
A. It was actually during my time volunteering with the NGO that I became very surprised by how freeganism helped bring everything together. That led me to start researching the global impact of food waste. I thought about spreading the word by using the examples of the people around me to show how much we can achieve if we manage this issue the right way.
Q. What are some of your influences when putting the documentary together?
A. Racing Extinction and Cowspiracy were two of my favourite documentaries that really inspired me to pursue this form of storytelling, also while researching for this theme I found inspiration on Just Eat it! And Wasted! The Story of Food Waste.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments whilst making the Film?
A. I just really love being behind the camera! Working as a one-person crew is incredibly exciting—it allows me to fully immerse myself in each situation without disrupting the people around me. I also truly enjoyed spending time with the other volunteers around the finca; they were all fantastic and incredibly helpful. Since I wasn’t an outsider, but had already been part of their lives for a few months, they felt comfortable having me around, and I believe that really comes through on screen.
Q. Did you experience any issues whilst making the film?
A. The biggest and most persistent challenge was the lack of any budget. Filming, for me, is the exciting part— but both pre-production and post-production demanded countless hours of work to make it all come together.
Q. What do you hope people will take away watching A Food Story?
A. I hope this makes people at least think twice about food waste—both in their homes and in supermarkets or local stores. I truly believe that every small action counts, whether it’s making your own compost at home, saving that last bit of food, or finding creative ways to use leftovers. Now, looking at the bigger picture, I hope we soon begin to demand laws that protect us from this issue, laws that prevent large supermarkets from throwing away perfectly good food, whether by donating it to NGOs or finding other responsible solutions.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. Yes, I do. Together with some associates, we recently registered our own production company, called El Guirre Films. We’re currently finishing post-production on what I hope will soon be my next visible project—a short documentary about an education centre for Rohingya children in Malaysia. We’re also developing ideas for our first feature-length documentary and already have a few promising concepts in mind.
Q. If someone is looking to make their own documentary, what advice would you give them?
A. I’m not an expert in this field yet, but if I can share one piece of advice, even if it sounds like a cliché, it’s that the best way to learn is simply to go for it. If you have an idea, a story that’s burning inside you and deserves to be told, just try to put it out there. If you don’t have the budget, do it without one. If you don’t have a camera, use your phone. Make the most of your limitations and tell the story you believe in. Also, if you can, try to surround yourself with people that believe in your idea, creativity is always better when it’s collaborative.
A Food Story will be playing at the Southend Film Festival on Sunday 8th June at 5pm as part of the Short Films From Spain.
You can find out more about director Pablo Aira on the website www.pabloaira.com and Instagram
You can find out more about the festival and purchase tickets for A Food Story here
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
