Gather
Directed bySanjay Rawal
Produced by
Music byMichael A. Levine
Production
company
Illumine Group
Distributed byMonument Releasing
Release date
  • September 8, 2020 (2020-09-08) (United States)
Running time
74 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Gather is a 2020 American documentary film about Native American efforts for food sovereignty,[1] directed by Sanjay Rawal and released in 2020. The film follows efforts by various people and groups to reclaim ancestral foodways. It was positively reviewed by critics, and named a Critic's Pick by The New York Times in September 2020.

Synopsis

Gather follows attempts by Native Americans to reclaim the foodways of their ancestors.[2] The documentary opens with a quote from Crazy Horse:[3]

The Red Nation shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world; a world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations; a world longing for light again.

Chef Nephi Craig works to start Café Gozhóó, a restaurant that will serve traditional Apache food and train people recovering from addiction to cook it. Fred DuBray and his daughter Elsie DuBray work with bison in the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation, while the Ancestral Guard made up of Sammy Gensaw III and other Yurok men in Northern California practice and teach their tribe's traditional practices for fishing and preparing salmon on the Klamath River.[2] Twila Cassadore studies and shares about the historical agricultural practices of the San Carlos Apache, White Mountain Apache, and Yavapai peoples.[4]

Production

Gather was directed by Sanjay Rawal[1] and co-produced by the First Nations Development Institute.[2] The executive producer was Jason Momoa,[3] additional producers included Tanya Meillier and Sterlin Harjo,[5] and the cinematographer was Renan Ozturk.[4]

During the production process for Gather, the team producing the film sought grants which they used to hire Native American journalists (including Kim Baca) as well as photographers; they were charged with producing stories for media outlets about stories related to food sovereignty which would not be included in the final version of Gather.[6]

Produced in the United States in the English language, Gather has a runtime of 74 minutes.[7]

Release

On March 11, 2020, a preliminary screening of Gather to an entirely Native audience in Colorado met with approval. The audience reaction reassured director Sanjay Rawal that he had created an appropriate documentary despite being non-Native himself.[3]

Gather premiered at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in 2020.[5][timeframe?]

Gather was released on Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video on September 8, 2020.[8] As of December 1, 2020, viewing or screening it in Europe was only possible if a permission form had been approved by the producers of the documentary.[3] On November 1, 2021, Gather was released on Netflix.[9]

Critical reception

Gather was described as "wide-ranging, addressing both systemic issues and small-scale solutions" in a YES! Magazine review by Valerie Schloredt.[1] In Mother Jones, senior editor Maddie Oatman contrasted it with the Netflix documentary Kiss the Ground, writing that Kiss the Ground "remains sheltered under the auspices of modern capitalism" and glosses over the "struggle" and "violence" that Gather explores.[2] In The New Republic, Jo Livingstone described its production style as "firmly rooted in the subject at hand".[4] In the Spanish language version of Condé Nast Traveler, an article by Marc Casanovas titled Por qué Gather ya es el mejor documental del año en Estados Unidos ("Why Gather is already the best documentary of the year in the United States") described the documentary as "a cry in favor of food sovereignty and the recognition of the generational trauma" ingrained in indigenous people.[3]

Accolades

Gather was awarded Best Documentary Feature at the Red Nation Film Festival Awards in 2020.[10] It was named a Critic's Pick by The New York Times in September 2020.[11] Gather won a James Beard Foundation Media Award for Best Documentary, awarded June 12, 2022.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c Schloredt, Valerie (November 25, 2020). "In 'Gather,' Indigenous Food Sovereignty Is on the Menu". YES! Magazine. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Oatman, Maddie (November 25, 2020). "A Netflix doc wants to fix our food system with capitalism. "Gather" argues that's how it broke". Mother Jones. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e Casanovas, Marc (December 1, 2020). "Por qué Gather ya es el mejor documental del año en Estados Unidos" [Why Gather is already the best documentary of the year in the United States]. Condé Nast Traveler (in European Spanish). Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Livingstone, Jo (November 26, 2020). "It's a Perfect Year for a Non-Thanksgiving". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Gather". Kalliopeia Foundation. September 25, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  6. ^ "E103: Film Discussion – Sanjay Rawal on GATHER". World Food Policy Center. Interview with Sanjay Rawal. Sanford School of Public Policy. January 5, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2021.((cite web)): CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. ^ "Gather". Human Rights Watch Film Festival. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  8. ^ Duggan, Tara (August 31, 2020). "For the Yurok in Northern California, restoring native food is key to survival, new film argues". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  9. ^ Marcus, Mary Brophy (October 29, 2021). "New Netflix Release "Gather" Explores the Fight to Revitalize Native Foodways | Think Global Health". Think Global Health. Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  10. ^ Tangcay, Jazz (December 2, 2020). "'Monkey Beach' Sweeps at Red Nation Film Festival Awards". Variety. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  11. ^ Gyarkye, Lovia (September 8, 2020). "'Gather' Review: The Struggle to Remain Sovereign". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  12. ^ Eater Staff (June 11, 2022). "Here Are the 2022 James Beard Foundation Media Award Winners". Eater. Retrieved June 15, 2022.

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