[hupso_hide][hupso title=”Second helpings from the @TribecaFilmFestival table…” url=”https://ciw-online.org”]

The CIW’s whirlwind weekend at last month’s Tribeca film festival produced a tremendous wave of news and events that we covered at the time in this post from the scene.  But in moments of fast-moving events like the premiere of the new documentary “Food Chains” — which itself came on the heels of the great front page story on the Fair Food Program that appeared in the New York Times that same week — it is almost inevitable that certain aspects of the story will get lost in the initial coverage.

And, indeed, there was more to the events that weekend than we reported at the time, so today we wanted to double back for a moment and share with you two of the better bits of coverage from that busy trip to NYC that were lost in the bright lights of the big city.

First is the above video, which consists of roughly five minutes of excerpts from a Huffington Post Live interview with bestselling author Eric Schlosser and the CIW’s own Gerardo Reyes.  It is a solid primer on the Fair Food Program, the Campaign for Fair Food, and “Food Chains” that is very much worth a watch.

And second is a great article from the Ft. Myers News-Press on the premiere of “Food Chains” at Tribeca (“Immokalee workers star at De Niro’s film festival”), which proves that, even when you are getting the red carpet treatment in New York City, there’s no place like home.  Here’s an excerpt:

A few Southwest Florida tomato pickers will see a different shade of red as they stride the iconic carpet at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival today, where “Food Chains,” focusing on the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, will get its first U.S. screening.

It’s been a heady run-up to the premiere in recent days for the grass-roots group.

Clips of festival co-founder Robert De Niro talking up the film have aired on the small screens installed in thousands of New York City cabs; the premiere’s 500 tickets sold out in less than three hours, so an extra showing was booked, and a front-page New York Times article Friday detailed the coalition’s unprecedented success in modernizing Florida’s $650 million tomato industry while fighting modern-day slavery.

“People are hungry for this film that shows how hard we’ve worked to eliminate abuses and make things better,” said farmworker and coalition member Gerardo Reyes Chavez. “It’s just beautiful that we have this exposure. It’s really a wonderful moment for the campaign.” read more

Indeed, last month’s trip to New York was a wonderful moment for the campaign.  And it is one that will be repeated many times over in the months ahead, as the film ramps up for its theatrical release this fall.   Be sure to stay tuned for showings near you, and let us know if you’d like to organize a showing on your campus or in your city (email us at workers@ciw-online.org), we’ll put you in contact with the filmmakers for all the arrangements!