Summary of the Film

Modified is a feature-length documentary that questions why genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are not labeled on food products in Canada and the United States, despite being labeled in 64 other countries around the world. The film is anchored in the rich food legacy passed on to me by my mom who was a prolific organic gardener and seed saver, a true gourmande, and a passionate food activist who believed we should know how our food is produced. Shot over a span of 9 years, the film follows the citizen-led movement to label GMO foods in Canada and the United States. It also questions the cozy relationship between the biotech industry and our governments, exploring whether our food policies benefit people or large agri-food corporations. The film is peppered with cooking, farming, and animation vignettes from my food blog as well as family home video archives, illustrating the close bond my mom and I shared when it came to food. Ultimately, the film makes the case that we all have a right to know what's in the food we eat.

In the spring of 2009, when production of this film was already well underway, my mom was diagnosed with a brain tumour. She died just 5 months later. Since then, this project has taken on a new significance for me. It is dedicated to my mom because GMO labelling was our shared passion and she is the one who instilled in me a deep love of food and taught me to ask tough questions and seek truthful answers. 

Modified is entirely self-produced and was shot in France, Canada, and the United States. It features interviews with (among others):

• Dr. Jane Goodall of the Jane Goodall Institute
• Andrew Kimbrell of the Center For Food Safety in Washington
• Rachel Parent, founder of Kids Right To Know
• Dr. Belinda Martineau, molecular geneticist and author of First Fruit: The Creation of the Flavr Savr Tomato and the Birth of Biotech Food
• George Naylor, corn and soy grower, Iowa
• Larry Erickson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph
• Gord Surgeoner, President of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies
• Dave Murphy, Founder and Executive Director Food Democracy Now
• Steven Druker, public interest attorney and author of Altered Genes, Twisted Truth
• Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network
• Dr. Conrad Brunk, Co-Chair of the 2001 Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel on the regulation of food biotechnology

The Issue

While people often hold very polarized viewpoints on the genetic engineering of our food crops, about 90% of Americans and Canadians are in agreement that at the very least, GMOs should be labeled so that people can make up their own mind whether to eat them or not. Given this overwhelming consensus, it's worrying that politicians in both countries have buckled under pressure from biotech and agri-food industries, repeatedly voting against GMO labelling bills that 90% of their constituents supported. In the US alone, the agri-food industry has spent over $200 million to lobby and fight against GMO labelling initiatives. 

In 2014, Vermont became the first state to pass a full mandatory GMO labelling law, which recently went into effect on July 1st, 2016. However, one week later, on July 7, the US Senate voted in favour of an industry-supported bill (the DARK Act), overturning Vermont's law (and similar laws in Maine, Connecticut, and Alaska) as well as over 100 local seed and food laws. The DARK Act will put in place an unenforceable national GMO disclosure system, whereby companies can opt to use QR codes or 1-800 numbers instead of clear, simple labels. The bill is so full of loopholes that Senators who opposed it called it a "phony sham" (Senator Boxer), a "fake labelling bill", and an "obstacle course" (Senator Merkley). The DARK Act was signed into law by President Obama on July 29, 2016, despite overwhelming opposition.

Meanwhile north of the border, the Canadian government has repeatedly voted against GMO labelling bills despite a severe critique of our regulatory system by the country's most eminent body of scientific experts: The Royal Society of Canada. At the time it was released, the Toronto Star called The Royal Society of Canada’s report a “polite but scathing indictment – of the industry, the academic research community and, particularly, of the federal government itself". To this day, Health Canada has largely ignored the expert panel report which made 53 specific recommendations to bring our regulatory system in line with sound science, transparency, and the precautionary principle.

The Team

Aube Giroux, Producer & Director

Aube Giroux is a filmmaker, food writer, and award-winning creator of Kitchen Vignettes, a farm-to-table food blog and online cooking series on PBS Food. Her cooking show received the Saveur Magazine Best Food Blog Award in 2012 and is a two-time James Beard Award Nominee. She previously directed two films for the National Film Board of Canada. Modified is her first feature-length documentary.

For thirty-one years Camelia Frieberg worked as a film producer, director and writer in Toronto and Nova Scotia. She was the producer of “The Sweet Hereafter” and “Exotica” with director Atom Egoyan and “The Five Senses” with Jeremy Podeswa. For the past seven years Camelia has been managing Watershed Farm, a mixed livestock, vegetable, flower, herb and fruit farm using biodynamic principles. She is a board member of USC Canada and proud mother of two children. 

Kate Kennedy is a poet and freelance editor living in Victoria, BC. Her poetry has appeared in numerous journals, including The Malahat Review, The Fiddlehead, Ryga, The Antigonish Review, and PRISM International, and has twice been selected for the Best Canadian Poetry in English published annually by Tightrope Books. As an editor, Kate has had the pleasure of working on a number of well-received titles, among them finalists for some of Canada’s most prestigious literary awards, including the Giller Prize, the Charles Taylor Prize, and the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize.

Raising the funds for film completion

This project has been a labour of love from the start. For 9 years, I've funded the production of this film entirely on my own and invested countless hours of research, filming, and editing. Raising the funds now needed for post-production will allow me to complete the film professionally so it can have a solid film festival run and broad distribution. Currently 95% of the filming is complete and a 2-hour rough cut of the film has been edited. I am extremely honoured to have Gemini award-winning editor Avrïl Jacobson on board as picture editor. Following a 10-week picture edit in Toronto, the next steps will be sound editing, music composition, animation & graphics, colour correction, and final mastering. The film should be ready to submit to international film festivals by January, 2017, with the aim of securing a solid distribution deal so that it can be seen by a broad and diverse audience.

My total post-production budget is $85,000 but $40,000 is the urgent minimum amount needed to bring the film to the next stage of completion. I have just 40 days to raise this minimum amount! Your help in spreading the word about this campaign is most deeply appreciated. 

These are the expenses needed to finish the film:

• Picture Editor: $25,000
• Assistant Editor: $2,000
• Sound Editor: $10,000
• Writer: $1,000
• Archival footage licensing (Shutterstock, CBC, Global) : $3,500
• Graphics and Animations: $4,000
• Music Licenses: $5,000
• Music Composer: $5,000
• Color Correction, Mastering & Final Mix, Outputs, Restripe & Packaging, Digital Cinema Package: $15,000
• Additional Shooting (4 days): $2,000)
• Legal Fees and E & O Insurance: $6,000
• French versioning: $5,000
• Film festival submission fees, website, promotional materials: $1500
• TOTAL POST-PRODUCTION BUDGET: $85,000

Other Ways You Can Help

There is no contribution too small for this fundraiser! All contributions are deeply appreciated. If making a financial contribution is not possible at this time, you can support my project by sharing it with your friends and family, and on your social media networks. Do check out the special perks and rewards I'm offering on the right sidebar.

Thank you so much to everyone for your contributions to this project, whether through monetary means, a donation of your time, by sharing this project with others and spreading the word, or through your valuable feedback and kind words of encouragement!

For a little taster, here are some of my cooking vignettes which will be featured in the film: