Today in classed we watched a French Documentary about gleaners. By definition a gleaner is someone who picks up grain left behind by harvesters. However this filmed showed that it’s not only about people out in the fields picking up leftover or left behind crops and vegetables. There are also people who search through trash or pick up things on the street that others left behind. What I found most interesting about the film was the way everything was portrayed by the filmmaker. It was interesting to see the first hand accounts of these gleaners. Hearing their personal experiences and the reasons for their actions made me feel sympathetic. This is the way that some people have to live. Their only source of food is what they are able to find for free. The film did jump all over the place but in the end I think it portrayed an important message. I would love to learn more about gleaning in the United States due to the large amount of waste that we produce. Many people in New York live in poverty or are homeless. It would be interesting to learn how New Yorkers specifically take part in “gleaning” or something like it. I know from personal experience that people often take trash from the streets, such as furniture to either use it or re-purpose it. The idea is similar to recycling however it almost cuts out the middle-man. The garbage is never picked up to be recycled in a factory, instead it is recycled immediately. I enjoyed the film and the filmmaker involvement in the film. I especially enjoyed the music that was used. The music was also all over the place because it ranged from rap/hip-hop to jazz/blues. The style of the film was unlike any other we have seen so far in class. It involved a large amount of filmmaker involvement. She even talked about making a film in her film.