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?

Film Signature Image
Series
Independent Lens
Premiere Date
January 14, 2013
Length
60 minutes
Funding Initiative
Open Call
Series and Special Projects
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2012 Urbanworld Film Festival-Best Documentary
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2012 American Black Film Festival-CNN Best Documentary Award
    • Close up of Byron Hunt
    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.

    Filmmaker site
    Other ITVS Films
    Hazing
    Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes

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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.

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