Full Frame: The Hand That Feeds Review

The Hand That Feeds (2014)

Directors: Rachel Lears, Robin Blotnick
Country: USA
Genre: Documentary

Editor’s Note: The following review is part of our coverage of the 2014 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. For more information please visit fullframefest.org or follow Full Frame on Twitter.

The Hand That Feeds is a film documenting the struggle of twelve employees as they take on the powerful investors who own a well known New York restaurant franchise over poor working conditions and unfair wages. Or at least that’s what this documentary is supposed to be about. In reality this film is about whatever the audience’s pre-ordained prejudices and opinions are and how strongly they feel about them.

There is absolutely no doubt that workers rights are an important global issue and any attempt to highlight the apparent discrimination and exploitation that exists must be applauded and supported. The problem lies in which story to highlight and how then to portray that story. Focusing on a selection of employees at a New York bakery The Hand That Feeds follows them as they fight enforced employment and strive to establish their own union to protect their rights. While this is an admirable cause much of the good will (how much good will there actually is will be very much determined by the mind of the viewer themselves) that is generated in the first act is placed under threat when it is revealed that many of the workers are undocumented, or illegal, immigrants. At a time when immigration is a hugely topical world issue as countries struggle to find the balance between acceptably stringent and secure border controls the fact that many of the people you are being asked to have empathy for are resident illegally is a difficult one to invest in. While it is clear that much of the immigrant population is employed in poorly paid jobs and inherently exploited it is perhaps guiltily troubling at times to shake the notion that “well, you’re here illegally so take what you can get or go home”.

How much you enjoy The Hand That Feeds will depend on several things, but not necessarily any that are shown in Robin Blotnick and Rachel Lears’ film about workers rights. It is a subject upon which everyone will have an opinion and one that is unlikely to be altered by watching this film.

As harsh a notion as this may be the problem is emphasized as you never really get to know the people involved in the struggle. The one you do, Mahoma, who becomes something of a figurehead, is a reasonably sympathetic character but his actions are questioned even by his wife who goes on record saying she doesn’t really agree with what he is doing. In one simple, quiet aside the whole film is summed up by the spouse of one of the main protagonists and immediately the audience, if they didn’t already, share her view.

How much you enjoy The Hand That Feeds will depend on several things, but not necessarily any that are shown in Robin Blotnick and Rachel Lears’ film about workers rights. It is a subject upon which everyone will have an opinion and one that is unlikely to be altered by watching this film. The so called powerful investors, or “bad guys”, are only ever given a passing, pixelated face and as such there is no balance to the documentary. It would be easy to imagine some viewers even having some sympathy for the businessmen who end up backed so far into a corner that they have no choice to close the bakery and try and sell it as quickly as possible.

This is a film that will not change anyone’s mind, or even spark further debate on a topic that is already becoming tiresome for many people. As such, if that was in fact its goal, it has failed. What is left is the story of some workers who lost their jobs, kicked up a fuss, set up a union, and got their jobs back. Just not interesting enough unfortunately.