The Famine Within

The Famine Within is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Katherine Gilday and released in 1990. The film explores the issue of women's body image, and the prevalence of eating disorders. The film was narrated by Rebecca Jenkins.The Famine Within is an exploration of the contemporary obsession with body size and shape among North American women. Through the use of conventional documentary interviews and narration in conjunction with striking evocative imagery, the film presents women sharing their own experiences suffering with an eating disorder. The direct testimony of many women who have suffered from the body obsession – dancers, mothers, career women, athletes, bulimics, fat women, anorexics, young girls - with the views of leading experts, this work explores the kind of hunger that cannot be satisfied by food. The film is less about illness associated with food, but more raises questions about why so many women are worried about gaining weight or “being fat” The film premiered at the 1990 Festival of Festivals. It was subsequently broadcast by TVOntario.