Return of Generation F, rev. ed.

 fig. a:  peach, Morgan Hill, CA

You may remember our affection and admiration for Adam Leith Gollner's The Fruit Hunters:  A Story of Nature, Obsession, Commerce, and Adventure.  It was a book that easily made our "Best of..." list for 2008, a book that inspired us to interview Mr. Gollner on the subject of fruit and fruit obsession right here in the virtual pages of "...an endless banquet."

You may have also picked up on our affection and admiration for the work of Yung Chang, the acclaimed director of Up the Yangtze and China Heavyweight.

Well, you may be interested to know that Mr. Chang's latest film is premiering this weekend at the Rencontres Internationales de Documentaire de Montréal (RIDM), and it's an adaptation of Mr. Gollner's book called (you guessed it!) The Fruit Hunters.

 fig. b:  fruit hunters, Los Angeles, CA

If you've read The Fruit Hunters, you'll see that some of the colourful characters that made the book so memorable reappear in the film version, but Chang's film is a fairly liberal adaptation, and he takes the hunt in a number of new directions and introduces us to a whole new cast of fruit obsessives, including Bill Pullman (!) and his gang of Merry Orchardists.

 fig. c:  oranges, Los Angeles, CA

Chang's film is also much more graphic and sensual than the typographic version.  The cinematography is quite literally luscious--the sweetness, the complex flavors, and the fragrance of the world's most exotic fruit appears to have infused the very screen, and the experience is nothing if not tantalizing.  You'll feel the urge to satisfy your curiosity.  You might even feel the first pangs of your own fruit obsession.  Chang recommends attending screenings with a bowl of exotic fruit at the ready, and it's good advice, but it might not go over so well with the folks at Excentris or the Cinémathèque.*  However, Chang and his team have ever-so-thoughtfully organized an exotic fruit tasting at the Cinémathèque after the November 10 screening (in the RIDM's food- & drinks-friendly events room), so you'll have a golden opportunity to sate your cravings.

The Fruit Hunters screens on November 10 (16:30) and November 13 (17:30), at Excentris and the Cinémathèque Québécoise, respectively.  For more information, you can consult The Fruit Hunters' webpage on the RIDM site.  And if you're in need of a teaser, you can find the Official Trailer for the film here and the Official Website here.  And if film festivals just aren't your trip, The Fruit Hunters opens in theatres in Montreal and Toronto on November 23.

aj

* I got busted for smuggling an apple juice into Excentris one time.  It was in a sealed bottle, and no spills were involved.  Forget about trying to even bring an apple, let alone a cherimoya.