Independent Lens
Hazing
Hazing is Byron Hurt's deeply personal journey exploring the sometimes deadly rituals of belonging fueled by tradition, secrecy, groupthink, power, and the desire to fit in.
Soul Food Junkies
To many African Americans, soul food is a part of cultural identity. But does this cuisine do more harm to health than it soothes the soul?
- Series
- Independent Lens
- Premiere Date
- January 14, 2013
- Length
- 60 minutes
- Funding Initiative
- Open Call
- Series and Special Projects
Producer/Director
Byron Hurt
Byron Hurt is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, writer, activist, and an adjunct professor at Columbia University. His acclaimed documentaries Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes and Soul Food Junkies premiered on PBS’s Independent Lens. Byron’s latest film Hazing premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival and will air on Independent Lens.
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The Film
Filmmaker Byron Hurt explores the upsides and downsides of soul food, a quintessential American cuisine. Soul Food Junkies explores the history and social significance of soul food to black cultural identity and its effect on African American health, good and bad. Soul food will also be used as the lens to investigate the dark side of the food industry and the growing food justice movement that has been born in its wake.
