Ari Cohen is a Canadian filmmaker with a previous film entitled Falafelism. Not only is his latest documentary, The Family Farm, a visual treat incorporating expansive rural Canadian landscapes, but it also gives insight into local Canadian family farms across the country, which many modern consumers have long lost touch with. The documentary will be screened at the Toronto Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival from November 6 to 9.
The Varsity: You have had an extensive career [sic] in film. What made you turn towards directing?
Ari Cohen: I graduated with a degree in arts administration, then I became the cultural director of an arts center. After working there for a few years I started producing documentaries and the like. I produced and helped direct a documentary called Too Colourful for the League, about the history of black hockey players and that snowballed into other films and got me started off in the industry.
TV: What inspired you to make this documentary?
AC: I felt like it was my duty as a documentary filmmaker to address something important to our society, from sociopolitical to environmental issues, and to influence them in a positive way if possible. Coming from a Moroccan Jewish family, food has always been a big part of my life. I made another film before this one on food called Falafelism which documents the relationship of food and politics in the Middle East. I’ve also filmed quite a bit in the Arctic and there food is so scarce and hard to grow — which really made [me] think of the disparity out there. Some can afford to waste food, others have nothing to eat. For a while, I’ve been exploring how we can use food to talk about other issues.
TV: What is family farming and why is it important in Canadian agriculture?
AC: They are basically farms that have been run by a family for generations and have become integral parts of their local communities. Most of them grow natural foods and the animals are reared in far better conditions than that in mass produce — which many people feel is more ethical. Studies have shown that a shift in our food habits can solve the climate change problem and family farming is a direct link to that shift. 85 per cent of Canadian foods come from five companies, and oftentimes smaller producers have a hard time with provincial regulations and the like. Canada is a country without a national food policy, and has many regulations that dissuade family farming enterprises, such as food quotas. This country was created based on family farms. These farms mean cheaper, natural, [and] healthier alternatives to mass produced foods and they also help maintain biodiversity.
TV: What was the biggest challenge towards making the documentary? What did you find the most interesting?
AC: The biggest challenge was finding the right characters to film the documentary about. I screened, profiled, and interviewed hundreds of farmers from every province, and they all had stories worth documenting. How do you choose from thousands of farmers? I just had to handpick a few stories out of them that I felt flowed well together and were a good representation of the diverse collective. We met a Mennonite farmer by the way of Waterloo and I was very taken by their way of farming. They had to battle their heritage and ideologies to make space for and keep up with modern farming techniques that uses machinery, etc., and I thought that was very interesting.
TV: What do you think should be done to resolve the problems addressed in the documentary?
AC: I think it’s a few things. One, we need to learn about our food, from when we grow it to when we eat it. Bringing biodiversity back in the face of mass production is also important. Healthy natural farming should be allowed to survive — a lot of existing regulations oppose that. People with the right vision and right intent need to be able to execute their farming ideas and allowed to survive. Eating [locally grown produce] is also a step ahead in healthier, environmentally safe lifestyles. People should know they can find affordable healthy food in local farms. Also, the government is big a part of the solution.
TV: How did the stories, the research, and the journey affect you personally? Did their effect on you translate into your documentary?
AC: I come from a typical Canadian family and many such families are used to having two or three fridges in the house. In the last few years I started questioning my lifestyle. Is so much consumption important for my health or survival or do I just splurge on mass grown food mindlessly? Making such filtered choices can affect all kinds of things for me, the idea was to question my actions and be aware of their consequences, and I wanted to share that. These personal questions led me to the research the issue, and I have spent the last two years on this film. This film not only gives the objective views of issues in family farming, but it also creates an emotional connection between the viewer and the farmers. My aim was to make the issue of food farming relatable — I wanted to make people think “oh, I know a place exactly like this. It’s not far from where I live.”
TV: The Family Farm will next be screened in the Toronto Environmental Film Festival. Are you going to be attending it?
AC: Yes, I will be attending it, I’m really happy that the film is getting the right sort of critical focus, being showed in environmental and science festivals where it’s less about the red carpet and more about the issues. I am very excited to be meeting the other filmmakers as well. I think everyone who has the time should come by to the festival as it will explore many important problems and their solutions.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Correction (October 22, 2014): A previous version of this article contained incorrect information about Ari Cohen.
Correction (November 5, 2014): A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Ari Cohen as an actor.
