For those of you who question Richard Linklater’s fictional treatment of Eric Schlosser’s non-fiction book ‘Fast Food Nation’, The New York Times (via Cinematical) brings us a profile on ‘Our Daily Bread’, a documentary feature dealing with the dark secrets of the food industry. Actually, let me re-state that; These aren’t really dark secrets at all. I’m pretty sure we’re aware that mass-consumption calls for mass-production, but we’d rather just stay uninformed when it comes to the process that brings the food to our tables. Director Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s film takes a hint from ‘Koyaanisqatsi’ in its presentation, made up entirely of symmetrical composed imagery and zero interviews. New York Film Festival chairman Richard Peña says “ ‘Our Daily Bread’ is a documentary that could probably find a place in a course on science fiction films.”, not unlike Werner Herzog’s Fata Morgana or Lessons in Darkness. Geyrhalter’s film is full of unusual imagery, documenting the process of growing fruits, vegetables and animals in the most unnatural yet economically viable way, replacing workers with machines where possible. It would be naive to think that this film will change anything. Geryhalter himself has said “Whatever we see in the movie is just part of our reality, and it will always stay part of our reality.” I think this is a good way to approach a film like this. Rather than point fingers and preach, let the content do its work and the audience can decide for themselves if they feel their reaction to the imagery is hypocritical or not.

Head on over to the films official website and check out the teaser trailers and some amazing screen shots. ‘Our Daily Bread’ opens in New York on Friday at the Anthology Film Archives in New York City.

Related Link: The New York Times: Watch What You Eat, If You Dare