Farmers can get their first look at the Before the Plate trailer this week

Jan 22, 2018

The trailer will be available to the public on Friday

By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com

The trailer for a documentary that shows the origins of a plate of high-end Toronto, Ont. restaurant food will be released later this week.

The full Before the Plate trailer will be released to the public on Friday.

In July 2016, Dylan Sher, the film’s creator, set up an Instagram account for the project, thinking he would take photos with a point-and-shoot camera and record a few interviews.

But in January 2017, Sagi Kahane-Rapport, a film student from Ryerson University, joined the project bringing an entire film crew with him. Between April 2017 and last week, the crew spent 31 days traveling, shooting and recording interviews.

“It’s nerve-racking to think about,” Sher, the Toronto-born University of Guelph agribusiness student turned film producer, told Farms.com today. “We only have whatever we shot to work with, but I’m very excited to see how people respond to the trailer.”

The crowd-funded film documents a dish from Canoe, a fine-dining restaurant located on the 54^th floor of Toronto’s TD Tower, and its journey back through the distribution and processing chains to the farmers who produce the ingredients.

And John Horne, chef at Canoe, participated every step of the way, which adds a different element to the movie.

Horne’s involvement “makes it a film that the urban audience can enjoy too,” Sher said. “Instead of stopping the dish at the kitchen, we’re following each ingredient out the door and back to the farm.”

Horne’s experiences with the farmers will also allow him to have a better connection with his dishes.

“Your cuisine becomes more personal and more intimate,” he told the Norfolk News on Nov. 19. “When you have that connection and understanding of where your food came from, you want to tell that story so the guests can experience it and appreciate the meal as much as you did while cooking it.”

Sher hopes the film will also illustrate the passion within the Canadian ag industry.

“I hope people (recognize) the pride and quality in Canadian farming and Canadian food,” he said. “I also hope that if an animal activist video comes floating around on social media, people who have seen the film will have a second thought before sharing the video online.”

With the trailer release this week, Sher has his eyes set on a bigger project.

In May, he will submit Before the Plate for screening at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

And a screening party is scheduled for Aug. 5. Tickets can be purchased online.

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