About the Film

Ruth Reichl—trailblazing NY Times food critic, groundbreaking Gourmet Magazine editor, best-selling memoirist, and for decades one of the most influential figures shaping American food culture—grows concerned about the fate of small farmers, ranchers, and chefs as they wrestle with both immediate and systemic challenges as the pandemic takes hold.

Reichl reaches across political and social divides to discover innovators who are risking it all to survive on the front lines. As one person leads her to the next, she follows the unfolding stories of ranchers in Kansas and Georgia, farmers in Nebraska, Ohio, and the Bronx, a New England fisherman, and maverick chefs on both coasts. As she witnesses them navigate intractable circumstances, Reichl shares pieces of her own life, and in doing so, begins to take stock of the path she has traveled and the ideals she left behind. Through her eyes, we get to know the humanity and struggle behind the food we eat. As Reichl says: “How we grow and make our food shows us our values – as a nation and as human beings.”

 

Filmmaking Team

 

Laura Gabbert

Director/Producer

Documentary director Laura Gabbert’s critically-acclaimed films deploy humor and emotion to tell penetrating,character-driven stories about American culture and society. Her newest documentary, Food and Country, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Her previous film, Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles (IFC/Hulu 2020), explores chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She also directed City of Gold (Sundance 2015), the feature documentary about Pulitzer Prize winning food writer Jonathan Gold, which was released theatrically by IFC Films in over 50 markets and named by Vogue Magazine among their “66 Best Documentaries of All Time.” Additional work includes feature documentaries No Impact Man (Sundance 2009, Oscilloscope) and Sunset Story (Tribeca 2005, Independent Lens), as well as the non-fiction short Monument/Monumento (Field of Vision 2017). Gabbert executive produced the Netflix Original Disclosure, and is currently completing a 6-part non-fiction series, The Power of Film, based on the work of legendary film scholar Howard Suber. Gabbert is a member of AMPAS. 

Ruth Reichl

Producer/Participant

Arguably one of the most influential figures shaping American food culture since the 1970s, Ruth Reichl served as restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times and New York Times, editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine, and has written five bestselling memoirs: Tender at the Bone; Comfort Me with Apples; Garlic and Sapphires; For You, Mom; Finally; and Save Me the Plums. Her novel, Delicious! was published in 2014, and her cookbook, My Kitchen Year, 136 Recipes that Saved My Life in 2015. She edited Best American Food Writing 2018, and The Modern Library Food Series, which currently includes ten books. She was Executive Producer and host of the public television series, Adventures with Ruth, and a judge on Top Chef Masters. She is the recipient of six James Beard Awards. Her newest novel is forthcoming and a documentary film she produced, Food and Country, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

An Argentine-American independent producer and executive based in Los Angeles, Paula’s producing credits include Food and Country (2023, Laura Gabbert, director), Dive (2022, Lucia Puenzo, director), Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles (2020, Laura Gabbert, director) and Free Color (2020, Alberto Arvelo, Director). She is currently in production on Memory (Michel Franco, director), Los Impactados (Lucia Puenzo, director) and the documentary New Mistakes (Michel Franco, director). As Senior Vice President of Film Finances, Inc., the world leader in completion guarantees, Paula has overseen more than 2,000 films and episodic productions in the US and internationally, with extensive experience in Latin America. A graduate of the University of Buenos Aires, she is a member of the Producers Guild of America, the Argentine Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and the advisory board for the Latin American Film Commissioners Network.

Caroline Libresco

Producer/Story producer

A leading film curator, creative producer, and program director, Caroline is co-founder and artistic director of Jewish Story Partners, a new documentary film philanthropy established in partnership with Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation. Her credits as creative producer include Sundance 2023 entry Food and Country, Our American Family (AMC), Netflix original Disclosure, Peabody-winner American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs (POV), and Tribeca Prize-winner Sunset Story (Independent Lens). In 2019 Caroline wrapped two decades as one of the head programmers at the Sundance Film Festival and director of Sundance’s Women’s Program. She was also co-founder and director of Sundance Catalyst, where she built a community of 100+ financiers, raising $32 million for 89 films including Writing with Fire, Truffle Hunters, Crip Camp, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, and The Witch. Caroline consults on story and strategy to filmmakers, festivals, and companies and is a member of the AMPAS. She holds an MFA from UCLA Film School, an MA from Harvard University, and a BA from Oberlin College.

Martina Radwan

Cinematographer

Martina Radwan is a New York City-based, award-winning filmmaker. Saving Face, the 2012 Academy Award Winner for Short Documentary and Emmy winner, the Brooklyn Film Festival earned her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Cinematography in 2013. Her recent work includes Boys State (Ben’s character), Inventing Tomorrow, The Final Year, The Family I Had, The Promised Band, Through A Lens Darkly and Hot Coffee. Her narrative features include Under Construction (the first female directed feature in Bangladesh), Rain (the first female directed Bahamian feature), Gideon Raff’s American films Train and The Killing Floor, as well as the award-winning Singapore Dreaming. Her directorial debut Spring in Awe won the Media Awareness Award at the Media That Matters Film Festival in 2004 and the Best Editing Award as part of PBS’ New York Reel the same year. Her second film Aliens Among Us played theatrically at IDA’s DocuWeek, 2009 and at numerous festivals. Martina Radwan is a member of the Academy, Documentary Branch and BAFTA.

Jerry Henry

Cinematographer

Jerry Henry is an LA-based Director/DP who received his MFA degree from UCLA's production program, focusing on documentary and cinematography. His award-winning short documentary, I Promise Africa, premiered in over 100 film festivals worldwide and won many prestigious awards, among them a Directors Guild of America Student Award. Jerry’s visual talents can be seen in the Oscar nominated documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop directed by Banksy, Peabody Award winning documentary American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs directed by Grace Lee, and City of Gold directed by Laura Gabbert. Recently he lent his visual talents to another Netflix Peabody Award winning doc series High on the Hog, directed by Roger Ross Williams. He is currently shooting documentary series The 1619 Project with the Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones for Hulu, as well as Season 2 of High on The Hog.

Philip Owens

Editor

Philip has edited feature documentaries Ottolenghi & The Cakes of Versailles (Tribeca, dir. Laura Gabbert), Corman’s World (Cannes, dir. Alex Stapleton), and Art & Copy (Sundance, Emmy, dir. Doug Pray), and is currently editing the feature documentary Witness, and the series The Power of Film. He was also an editor on The Human Trial, The Defiant Ones (Emmy) and Brillo Box 3ç Off (Oscar short doc shortlist), The Price of Free (Sundance Grand Jury), and I Bring What I Love. He is also known in the commercial filmmaking world for editing award winning short documentaries such as Dove’s ‘Real Beauty Sketches’ and Philips’ ‘Breathless Choir,’ among many others, with more than a hundred million views. Philip is a native of Ireland and a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. Today he lives in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles.

Ryan Rumery is a 2017 alum of the Sundance Institute Music and Sound Design Lab: Documentary. His music is regularly heard on “This American Life.” His film credits include Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles (2020 Tribeca), District 15 (2020 for Patagonia), America’s Pandemic (2020 The Washington Post), Epic Extras (2019 Major League Baseball), The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Paul Manafort (2018 The Washington Post). And, Apart (2016 Golden Door International Film Festival), Those People (UCLAxFilmFest 2022.) He has also contributed additional music to City of Gold (2015 Sundance), Awake: A Dream From Standing Rock (2017 Tribeca), How to Let Go of the World (And Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change) (2016 Sundance), and When We Walk (2019 Hot Docs).