About the film

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 Yangtzee”, “China Heavyweight”). 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. Movie star Bill Pullman’s obsession leads him on a crusade to create a community orchard in the Hollywood Hills. Adventurers Noris Ledesma and Richard Campbell scour the jungle for rare mangos, hoping to intervene before the plants are steamrolled by industrialization. Pioneering scientist Juan Aguilar races to breed bananas resistant to a deadly fungus that threatens the worldwide crop. And fruit detectives including Isabella Dalla Ragione investigate Renaissance-era paintings for clues, hoping to rediscover lost fruits. And, of course, there are the fruits themselves, presented in all their mouthwatering glory: cherimoyas, ice cream beans, durians and more. The fruit hunters talk so vividly and passionately about their subject that it makes your mouth water. It is a veritable sensory adventure, in which you will believe you can feel the creamy banana, smell the stinky durian fruit, and taste the refreshing sweet mango – and all the other fruits that pass the revue. Director Yung Chang, who also provides the voice-over, contrasts all of this with the commercial fruit trade and its creation of a monoculture, as it seeks to manufacture that single banana or apple variety that is best suited to export and retail.

Wybrane festiwale i nagrody / Selected festivals and awards: 2013 – Environmental Film Festival Paryż: Grand Prix / Environmental Film Festival Paris: Grand Prix, 2012 – MFF Amsterdam / IDFA

Attend the show ”Neighbouring Exoticism” following the screening of the film “The Fruit Hunters”. Warsaw, Saturday, May 18, Iluzjon.