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Absolutely No Spitting
2019 | USA | NR | 10 min.
Cooked: Survival by Zip Code
Milliken at the Dennos Museum
Thu, Aug 1, 2019 12:00 PM
Could systemic poverty be one reason for the uneven survival rates of people affected by natural disasters? What if we addressed poverty as a preemptive check on the effects of such a disaster? That’s the central idea explored in this explosive exposé of the disaster relief industry and the people in charge of it. Using the 1995 Chicago heat wave (wherein 738 mostly urban, elderly, and poor residents were killed over five days in July), as a jumping-off point, and addressing other catastrophic events like Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy—as well as the inevitable environmental disasters to come, due to the effects of climate change—filmmaker Judith Helfand explains how we could and should be addressing the most preventable aspect of natural disasters before they ever even happen.
“So, you know how I told you to never spit? And that you’re not allowed to spit and you shouldn’t spit? SO... I need you to spit...” And thus begins a very quirky, sometimes self-deprecating, and always heymish spit-driven DNA-journey-turned-love-letter between Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Judith Helfand, a fifty-something new old mom, and her much beloved and very spunky four- and-a-half-year-old adopted daughter, Theo. And thank G-d they call NYC home – because it’s the perfect place to embrace life as a multi-racial, multi-cultural, pan-global Jewish family.
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