Food for the Gods

Food for the Gods (often referred to online as FFTG) is a 2007 Canadian short, science fiction, romance film from award-winning writer/filmmaker H. Scott Hughes. The film stars Yvette Lu and Danny Dorosh as two star-crossed lovers in a plot reminiscent of stories of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith. The film is based on a short story by Patricia C. Hughes. It is set in the year 2057.

Plot

In the protagonist role, Yvette Lu is "Sheenyana," a beautiful, mystic warrior and member of the fictional Kyontawa tribe—a post-Neolithic tribe of humans residing on a pristine forested world, presumably in the Alpha Centauri star system. In the story, the Kyontawa are the descendents of a highly advanced Asian civilization from Earth's forgotten history, which established a deep-space settlement on what is now Sheenyana's planet. Clearly, that high-tech civilization is no more and the Kyontawa's knowledge of it is limited to their religious mythology of "Bird Gods" who seeded their people from the sky. Their language (subtitled in the film) has similarities to Asian languages of Earth, particularly Japanese. After a NASA expedition lands in Sheenyana’s forest, Sheenyana saves the life of American astronaut Lt. Richard O’Conner (Danny Dorosh). Their connection is immediate and, before long, the two fall into a forbidden affair—the foundation of a cultural clash which will threaten to rip them apart. When Sheenyana’s psychic visions foretell a coming danger from Earth, they lead her to the anguishing conclusion that the only way to save her people may be to sacrifice an innocent man—and the love of her life.

Main Cast

• Yvette Lu as Sheenyana -- a beautiful Kyontawa warrior with powerful psychic abilities. She is a niece to the tribe's king and queen. The royal couple raised her after the death of her parents and she remains a trusted political and military advisor, aided by her ability to see the future. She is a mentor to her first cousin, Princess Xionko. After a NASA expedition from Earth lands in her forest, Sheenyana soon falls in love with American astronaut Lt. Richard O'Conner.
• Danny Dorosh as Lt. Richard O'Conner -- a United States Naval aviator, who pilots NASA's first faster-than-light mission to the Kyontawa homeworld in the Alpha Centauri system. Like the rest of his crew, he is stunned to discover another planet populated by humans, but he falls deeply in love with Sheenyana--and engages in an affair despite a warning from his commanding officer. Concerned for the well being of the Kyontawa people, Richard begins to question their mission on this world.
• Taka Hiro as Shogoto -- Chief or King of Kyontawa, he is the tribe’s monarch and presides over the Chief Council, the kingdom’s governing body. He has a wife, Shogami, and daughter, Princess Xionko, his heir. He and Shogami raised their niece, Sheenyana, after the death of her parents. He loves her dearly and looks to her for council--a source of envy for his own daughter, Xionko.

• Beverly Wu as Xionko -- the crown princess, she holds the official title of Her Royal Highness, Xionko, Princess Heir of Kyontawa. A beautiful young woman with a tendency towards pampered vanities, she is extremely jealous of her first cousin, Sheenyana’s, elevated standing with her parents. Ironically, she also shows signs of caring deeply for Sheenyana and looks up to her as an older mentor. But it is her impulsive and manipulative nature that gets the best of her when she decides to expose Sheenyana’s affair with Richard, steal a laser weapon (nearly [...] herself in the process), and plunge two sides into a cultural clash that could rip Sheenyana and Richard apart...or worse.
• Tara Pratt as Dr. Denise Hanson -- a Canadian medical mission specialist on the NASA crew. She confirms that Sheenyana’s DNA is human/homo sapiens. There are hints that she may harbor an attraction for Richard, but she shares Richard’s concern for the plight of Sheenyana’s people.
• Shaker Paleja as Lt. Cmdr. Monroe Bellwood -- a by-the-book US Navy officer, he is the mission commander of Earth’s first faster-than-light mission to a world outside our own solar system. Like any C.O. his primary concern regards the safety of his crew and the success of their mission. Bellwood is unprepared for Richard’s first contact encounter with an alien, but human woman on a planet light-years from Earth. Especially when it is revealed that she may be royalty, he warns his lieutenant to “keep it in your pants.”
• Yuki Morita as Shogami -- queen of the Kyontawa, wife to Shogoto, and mother of the crown princess, Xionko. She is a matriarch very much in the Asian tradition. She raised her niece, Sheenyana, when Sheenyana’s parents died, and loves her dearly--a source of envy for Xionko, who sometimes feels slighted by her parents in favor of her older cousin.
• Amanda Louie as Ree -- a six year old Kyontawa child and member of the Kyontawa royal family.

Reception & Production

Featuring a majority Asian cast, Food for the Gods premiered on Canadian cable, Shaw Multicultural Channel, Sunday, May 25, 2008, as part of SMC's and ExplorASIAN's (a Vancouver-based Asian heritage organization) salute to Canada's Asian Heritage Month, which takes place each May. It aired at approximately 10:00 PM Pacific Time as part of a two hour block, 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM (the Sunday Movie of the Week timeslot), under the program title, Filmmakers Showcase: Roots & Passages—an anthology of short films selected by ExplorASIAN and Shaw Muliticultural Channel for their reflections on Asian history and culture (either historical or fictional). SMC aired an encore of the showcase at Midnight the following morning.

Food for the Gods has also been an Official Selection of the 2008 New Asia Film Festival in Richmond, British Columbia, an Official Selection of the 2008 Route 66 Film Festival in Springfield, Illinois, and an Official Selection of the Vancouver Asian Film Festival in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia on November 8, 2008. The film has garnered critical praise. During a May, 2008 Q&A session with three of the film's stars, Yvette Lu, Beverly Wu, and Yuki Morita, panelists at the New Asia Film Festival compared Food for the Gods to the romantic feature film, 2046, from acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai. The New Asia Film Festival describes Food for the Gods on their official Website:

Although it takes place in an otherworldly setting, the film is rich in Asian themes, including a backstory referencing prehistoric Japan, and a fictional subtitled language that is loosely derived from Japanese and other Asian language influences.

It was popular among festival judges at the Route 66 Film Festival for its poignant beauty and musical score, co-composed by the film's director, H. Scott Hughes, and the film's star and postproduction producer, Yvette Lu. The soundtrack features actress and singers Yvette Lu and Beverly Wu, singing in the Kyontawa language, accompanied by Chinese erhu master Xu Qian of the University of British Columbia's Asian Music Studies Department. On September 18, 2008, Food for the Gods was the only Route 66 Film Festival selection to appear on the front cover of "A&E," a publication of The State Journal-Register of Springfield, Illinois. Food for the Gods first premiered October 19, 2007 at the Vancouver International Film Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia.

FFTG was shot on Super 16 film , using Arriflex Cameras and Lenses, digitized and color corrected by Technicolor Laboratories, under the supervision of Director of Photography Steven Ye and cinematography advisor Ricky Choi. It displays in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio in 5.1 surround sound, mixed by Doug Woods at the VFS Sound Design studios in Vancouver.

See also

• Kyontawa
• Granny Grace

External links

• Food for the Gods: The Official Motion Picture Website
• Yvette Lu - Official Site
• Beverly Wu - Official Site
• Food for the Gods featured on VFS Blog, May 29, 2008.
• FFTG star Yvette Lu interviewed in Burnaby Now, May 24, 2008.
• Food for the Gods summary, translated into Chinese, New Asia Film Festival.
• Listing and summary in Route 66 article in The Illinois Times, September 11, 2008.