‘Hungry Now’ documentary to premiere Nov. 13 at the Collins Center, continuing Right to Food film series
The film “Hungry Now,” which was created through a documentary filmmaking course at University of Maine at Machias, will premiere at the Collins Center for the Arts in Orono on Nov. 13 at 3 p.m.
“Hungry Now” is an hour-long documentary that looks to answer the everyday questions of homelessness through a series of interviews with Mainers of all ages living in several rural and coastal towns, including Bangor, Milbridge, Jonesport, Machias and Eastport.
The film is directed by Alan Kryszak, media faculty at the UMaine Machias Interdisciplinary Fine Arts Department, who teaches the Down East documentary filmmaking course. The documentary is the fifth feature-length production to come out of Kryszak’s course. The student crew members for “Hungry Now” included Sam LaRusse, Nicholas Sanborn, Amanda Sawyer, Robin Hadlock Seeley, Hannah Somers-Jones, Suzie Milkowich, Aiyla Petty, Amanda Quinn, Megan Racila and Beth Staples.
“It was important to be able to walk right up to strangers. The script is in their heads, and they generously relay the most personal stories of failure, hard hits and how they keep helping the next one, no matter what,” says Kryszak in his director’s statement.
Past student productions that have come out of Kryszak’s filmmaking class include the 2020 “Privacy & the Power of Secrets,” which was an official selection at The Hague Global Cinema Festival, as well as the 2018 “Whatever Works: Exploring Opiate Addiction,” which premiered on Maine Public television in 2017 and received a 2018 Docs Without Borders award.
The UMaine Machias Performing Arts Center will host a second screening in-person on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.
Admission to both screenings are free. Donations at the door will go to the Manna Food Pantry in Bangor for the premiere at the Collins Center and the Machias Food Pantry for the screening at UMaine Machias.
“Hungry Now” will also broadcast on Maine Public Television on Nov. 24 and Dec. 15 at 9 p.m., and Dec. 17 at 2 p.m. The documentary will be distributed on PBS and online following the final televised airing.