Our daily bread (2006)

’Our daily bread’ has to be the most pure form of documentary filmaking at the I’ve seen this year. Featuring no voiceover narration, no interviews, no score and no facts, it is unique in the way it is presented, with the entire running time consisting of a set of 30 second shots one after the other, where the camera neither moves, nor zooms but stays absolutely still, focused on workers at a huge food processing plant somewhere in Europe just going about their daily jobs. The documentary has little to say and therefore has no point of view, but it has a lot to show and reveal and therefore it is left to us to make up our own minds about everything we are witness to.

From eggs and chicken, milk and beef, salt and fruits, every facet of the creation or origin of the food that we eat is covered, sometimes to startling effect, such as when we see workers travel deep underground (the elevator keeps moving for a good 25 seconds or so) to mine for pure white salt. I never knew how many different types of specialised mechanical equipments and vehicles existed in places such as these, the most fascinating being a tractor like vehicle with protruding arms that can shake trees with great force, allowing the fruits to drop down into containers! How is food made? Let ’Our daily bread’ enlighten you.

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