HUNGRY: 5 Questions for Filmmaker Jillie Simon

by Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

HUNGRY Short Film Synopsis: An idealistic grade school teacher has a fear of speaking up in public – other than in front of kids. But when she finds out that children in her school are going hungry – thanks to federal cutbacks – it compels her to step up and confront her Congressman (Eric Roberts), in order to help out the children.

I got a chance to meet Jillie and Thomas Simon 2 years ago during The Philadelphia Independent Film Festival; only I missed the screening of their short film HUNGRY.

I don’t make a point of it as often as I should, but ideally films about food should be featured on a site that covers film and food. So I asked them for a screener link for Hungry. Jillie sent it immediately. Yet sadly, as is often the case, I lose the window of time I’ve set aside to cover something and have to move on to what’s coming at me presently. I always say I’ll return to whatever it is I never got to see or write about, but I rarely do.

Thankfully, Jillie understood and she and I became social media friends. Recently, I saw her post that Hungry was going to become available VOD.
So I reached out to say let’s try this again! I’m very happy to have finally watched the film which stars Jillie as a quirky, soft spoken elementary school teacher, whose lunch gets stolen by one of her students – unexpectedly sending her down a path of activism. Hungry is such a charming way to make a statement about a sad and all too real subject matter. And timely now more than ever, with so many being food insecure during the Pandemic.

Jillie Simon Intro…

5 QUESTIONS FOR Jillie Simon

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for HUNGRY film and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Jillie Simon: Happy New Year! Thank you so much for wanting to share our film to the world! The inspiration for “Hungry” was seeing small news articles about a couple of different teachers who found out that kids in their school were going hungry because of the cuts to the SNAP program, and who then paid out of their own pockets so the kids could eat. Thomas Simon, my co-director/co-producer as well as the composer (and my husband) had been encouraging me to write a narrative piece after the wonderful experiences we’d had of going to film festivals with three award-winning music videos (Musiciens Sans Frontieres’ version of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” which is a paean to protest, “Legalize”, about the need to legalize marijuana, and “So Many Ways (For Safe, Green, Sane Energy)”. As an actor and singer-songwriter, I’d only written songs, prior to “Hungry”, but I thought, this is a topic I want very much to help shine a light on, and a character I’d like to play. The theme is two-fold – one that we’ve got to take care of our hungry children around the world – – and also that it’s important to use one’s voice- and have the courage to speak out for justice.

T&T: Tell us a bit about the music of your film?

JS: Thomas created all the music – except for three of the songs which we created together – and the score really propels the narrative forward. -He’s a brilliant award-winning composer with soundtracks on a number of feature films, including his latest, “Exit Zero”, directed by E.B. Hughes (who we’d also met at the wonderful Philadelphia Independent Film Festival!), starring Peter Greene, and “Las Redempcios dels Peixos” by Jordi Torrent, for which he was nominated for Best Music at Milan International Film Festival. On our ending credits song, “For All the Children”, which Thomas and I wrote together, we also had the talents of Alex Alexander (Dido, Youssou N’Dour) on drums, Baron Raymonde (Blues Brothers, Rod Stewart) on saxophone, and Mac Gohellon (David Bowie) on trombone. A couple of our child actors – Molly Mutch and D’Nari Wells– sing on that song as well.

T&T: What’s been the most memorable response you’ve received thus far from anyone after seeing HUNGRY?

JS: Memorable responses to the film included the people who thanked us, told us they hadn’t known about this and asked how they could help, and so we suggested that they contact their representatives – which is very much the response you want from a film with a call to action! We also pointed them to the fantastic organizations Action Against Hunger and A Well Fed World (which will be receiving all profits from “Hungry”). Also quite memorable was being programmed in front of John G. Avildsen‘s wonderful film “Lean On Me” by the Chesapeake Film Festival, which was screening his work as part of a tribute to him (Mr. Avildsen was there to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award), that felt like a beautiful response as well.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to the screen.

JS: I had a couple of amazing writing mentors I’d love to give a shout out to. When I was creating the screenplay, our friend Devi Snively, who’s a terrific and multi-award-winning writer/director and has also worked as a screenwriting professor, helped me greatly, as did Eileen Deutsch, whose entertaining, funny and whimsical plays I’ve also had the pleasure of being a part of. -And Mabou Mines, a terrific and Obie-Award winning theater company in NYC, championed us, helping us to be able to shoot in the public school where we shot the school interiors.

T&T: Name 5 of your favorite films, which influenced your desire to be a filmmaker?

Jillie: Five of my favorite films are – Hair, The Princess Bride, Amelie, To Sir With Love, The Graduate.

Thomas: Fitzcarraldo, Once Upon A Time in the West, Goodfellas, The Notebook, Papillon.