Que Culpa Tiene El Tomate? (2009)

From The Land To Your Table

Que Culpa Tiene El Tomate? (2009)

This is an Argentinian Documentary directed by Alejo Hojiman and Josue Mendez. This is a great documentary on the functioning of produce markets in 7 different cultures in South America. This film explores how fruits and vegetables are produced and commuted to markets and sold within its community.

The directors visit 7 different countries, some of which include their mother country Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, and Venezuela. This film is mostly silent without any narration. We hear some of the locals from each country speak with subtitles every now and then. Its more about the visual aspect and learning from what we see.

I realized it was a bit hard for me to tell which country they were in when they changed scenes. It was much easier for me to distinguish the difference one I heard the locals speaking. I speak spanish and I can recognize most of the regional dialects. Some, of course, I could not recognize.

The documentary does not label each country, rather they leave it up to the viewer to decide for themselves what country they are filming in at the moment. This was a little confusing and distracting because it made me stop paying attention to the movie so that I can think about where they could possibly be now.

Overall I enjoyed the documentary very much. I believe it was educational and I learned a lot about produce markets in South America and how they function, and what people have to go through to grow and sell their produce. I would say it is a one-time watch but it is definitely a movie everyone should watch in their lifetime in order to appreciate the foods we eat every day and where they come from.