‘Soul Food Junkies’ film with panel

The documentary “Soul Food Junkies” will be shown one day only on Tuesday, January 8 at the Rialto Cinemas in Sebastopol at 7 p.m.  Filmmaker Byron Hurt sets out on a historical and culinary journey to learn more about the soul food tradition and its relevance to black cultural identity.

The film will be shown under the auspices of Community Cinema, a national documentary screening series sponsored locally by Rialto Cinemas and the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival and Independent Television Service.

Evelyn Cheatham, the executive director and founder of Worth Our Weight, a culinary internship program for kids 16-24 who have faced major challenges in their lives. (photo by John Burgess)

Each Community Cinema presentation is followed by a panel discussion; on the three-person panel for Soul Food Junkies will be Evelyn Cheatham of Worth our Weight, Jim Cason of the Santa Rosa Junior College Culinary Institute, and Nancy Rogers of Red Rose Café.

Hurt’s film was inspired by his father’s lifelong love affair with the high-fat, calorie-rich traditional soul food diet and his unwillingness to give it up even in the face of a life-threatening health crisis.

Hurt discovers that the relationship between African Americans and culinary dishes like ribs, grits, and fried chicken is culturally based, deep-rooted, complex, and often deadly.

Through candid interviews with soul food cooks, historians, and scholars, as well as with doctors, family members, and everyday people, “Soul Food Junkies” puts this culinary tradition under the microscope to examine both its positive and negative consequences.

Hurt also explores the socioeconomic conditions in predominantly black neighborhoods, where it can be difficult to find healthy options, and meets some pioneers in the emerging food justice movement who are challenging the food industry, encouraging communities to “go back to the land” by creating sustainable and eco-friendly gardens, advocating for healthier options in local supermarkets, supporting local farmers’ markets, avoiding highly processed fast foods, and cooking.

Hurt is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, published writer, anti-sexism activist, and lecturer and the ormer host of the Emmy nominated series, “Reel Works with Byron Hurt.”