Abattoir Rising: The Missing Link Between Pasture and Plate. Work in Progress Screening. Q & A to follow with Audrey Kali and David Tames, Co-Directors. Tuesday, April 3, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., Brant Gallery (3rd floor, South Building)
Abattoir Rising is a documentary film currently in production. The film provides viewers with an honest look at the people, processes, and issues surrounding humane slaughter and local meat farming, allowing them to arrive at their own conclusions about the issues surrounding the process of raising animals for the purpose of bringing meat to market.
The Story: Local farmers raise happy animals on pasture. Who thought a humane death would be so difficult? The demand for local meat has risen in recent years due to increasing consumer awareness about the inhumane treatment of farmed animals. In contrast, there are not enough slaughterhouses qualified and able to provide humane slaughter to accommodate the demand for local meat. The film examines these issues through the stories of Eric Shelley and several local farmers. Shelley teaches humane meat processing at SUNY Cobleskill, lives on a farm with his wife and two young boys, and runs an on-farm slaughter business. Ultimately, the film shows how the livelihoods and consciences of consumers, farmers, and slaughterhouse operators alike (and local farming communities overall) are on the line because consumers don’t want to look at the missing link between pasture and plate. Interviews with experts including animal behavior expert Temple Grandin and philosopher Bernard Rollin substantiate the gravity of the story. http://AbattoirRising.com
Bio: Audrey Kali, Co-Director. Audrey has worked in the creative arts for twenty years and is currently an Associate Professor of Communications at Framingham State University. She has published articles on visual studies in academic journals. Her creative works include photography exhibits and The Plastic Arsenal, a documentary about war toys. She received a grant from the Culture and Animals Foundation for Partitions, a short documentary about humane farming, and has presented her study about visual strategies employed in animal welfare campaigns at Michigan State University. Being a reviewer for the Journal for Critical Animal Studies informs her work on the cultural impacts of farm animal slaughter. Audrey earned a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Communication from the University of Pittsburgh.
Bio: David Tamés, Co-Director. David is the Media Arts Studio Manager in the Studio Foundation Department at Massachusetts College of Art and Design and teaches documentary courses through Professional and Continuing Education. He has worked on a wide range of independent film and new media projects as producer, director, cinematographer, editor, and media technology consultant. David recently completed Documenting Bumpkin (2011), a short documentary providing glimpses of the 2010 Bumpkin Island Art Encampment. He directed the award-winning short documentary Smile Boston Project (2007), co-produced and co-directed Remembering John Marshall (2006), and is currently completing post-production on The David Hamilton Smith Story (2012). David earned an M.S. in Media Arts & Sciences from MIT and an MFA from MassArt.
Image: JBS Five Rivers Kuner Feedlot, Kersey, Colorado