The Barrio Fridge / Nikki Dodd and Luz Luz Guel
(USA) Short Film
East Harlem struggling to get access to healthy food due to the pandemic formed community based solutions. In efforts to address food scarcity by rescuing food waste from local restaurants and bringing it to the free fridge, The Barrio Fridge was bourn. Community fridges (also known as free fridges or friendly fridges) are refrigerators that sit on the sidewalk, providing free food to whoever is in need. In a city where one in every four New Yorkers is food insecure, community fridges are a fundamental example of mutual aid & neighbors helping neighbors to meet their needs.
This documentary project focused on uplifting the story of organizers leading the community fridge movement. Co-directors Nikki Dodd and Luz Guel collaborated with the Barrio Fridge (community fridge in East Harlem) to create this short documentary project.
Action: Find and get involved with your neighborhood food-sharing initiatives if you haven't spotted one already — go online to find where they are. Freedge has a searchable map of all affiliated fridge locations around the world. https://freedge.org/locations/
Bio: Luz primarily works in Harlem and the Bronx. Using community-based participatory research (CBPR), science and anti-racist approaches to collaborate with NYC communities to address environmental (in)justices. Her research in association with her role as Community Engagement Coordinator with NIEHS Environmental Health Core Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is rooted in understanding how systems of oppression, such as colonialism, imperialism, & white supremacy, continue to disproportionally affect the health and wellbeing of BIPOC communities throughout NYC.
Nikki is a documentary filmmaker, cinematographer and producer based in Brooklyn, New York. She’s worked on documentaries for Netflix and PBS, along with directing short documentaries that have screened at film festivals both nationally and internationally.
https://barriofridgefilm.com/