Toronto – Whereas March is a time of music festivals and bbqs, April is a time for one thing – documentaries. Once again, for the 17th year in a row, April brings us Hot Docs, a Canadian International Documentary festival that features around 150 documenataries from around the world. It starts on April 29th and runs until May 9th. Tickets are probably on sale now, so get off yo ass and book it. I love documentaries. They often tell me stories about people I either don’t think about or know or care about. I like additional knowledge, you never know when you need it. Maybe in a time of war. I don’t know. I’m rambling.
My first documentary is one called Dish, a Canadian documentary by Maya Gallus that examines waitresses in the service industry. Featuring a variety of waitresses young and old from restaurants all around the world (including Tokyo, Toronto, Montreal and Paris), the documentary examines what it’s like to be a waitress, why some of the women there chose the profession and some challenges they face.
I found this documentary to be fascinating. As someone who often eats out, it was interesting to see what it’s like from the waitresses point of view. It’s amazing to see how many different types of waitresses there are, from the comfortable homey types at truck stops, to the big tittied flirty types at Hooters to the crazy weird maid/servant types in Japan. Every waitress reveals some insight into their work – how you deal with aggressive males, how to deal with couples, how to deal with colleagues.. all the things you never think about when going to a restaurant. I’d list some, but I don’t really want to give anything away – I’ll just say some of the information revealed makes you go ‘hmm, never thought about that…’. It’s interesting.
As a documentary focusing solely on women in the service industry, I found this documentary to be excellent. The interest level never drops, the stories are well balanced and never drags and you get many different point of views. Also, if you are in Toronto, then you’ll be wondering where the hell the George Street Diner is. Go watch it.
* It’s probably best to not see this film on an empty stomach, you will get hungry.
World Premiere at Hot Docs
April 30 – The Bloor – 9:15pm – 506 Bloor St. W.
May 8 – The Royal – 1:30pm – 608 College St.
Running Time: 70 Minutes
