Our Daily Bread 2005
Distributed by First Run/Icarus Films, 32 Court St., 21st Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201; 800-876-1710
Produced by Nikolaus Geyrhalter Filmproduktion GmbH
Directed by Nikolaus Geyrhalter
VHS, color, 92 min.
Sr. High - Adult
Agriculture
Date Entered: 10/12/2006
Reviewed by Michael J. Coffta, Business Librarian, Bloomsburg University of PennsylvaniaThis is a completely visual documentary in that it has absolutely no narration or text whatsoever. Our Daily Bread provides sustained episodes of daily functions at an unnamed poultry, salmon, hog, and cattle processing facility. The audience witnesses the mechanized manner in which livestock are killed and processed. The imagery is unrelenting, with intensely graphic scenes of disembowelment, butchery, and the like.
Due to its lack of verbal information, I do not recommend this film. Though it provides a thorough visual examination of the unnamed processing plant, in order to be useful in the college/university classroom, it would greatly benefit from additional information such as research, context, statistics, interviews, and commentary.
Awards
- Jury Award, Joris Ivens Competition
- 2005 Amsterdam International Documentary Festival Science & Religion Prize
- 2006 Visions du Réel Best Film
- 2006 ECOCINEMA Film Festival