by Christine Westwood
One of the more confronting documentaries to come out of Sundance, The Game Changers challenges pretty much everything we have been told about our consumption of animal products. Meat equals strength, right? So why are elite athletes like heavyweight lifters, or eight times US cycle champion Dotsie Bausch or the Williams sisters for that matter, turning to plant based food, especially in training? Because, according to findings explained in the movie, a vegan diet enhances strength, performance and especially body repair and recovery.
The documentary began when mixed martial arts and ‘Ultimate Fighter’ champion James Wilks bought a used camera, so he could share his research on diet with the world.
“I just felt better, more energy, endurance, my strength increased,” Wilks told FilmInk after the premiere screening in Park City. “And that was similar to all the athletes we had on the film, and others that didn’t make it into the film that we’ll put out on the web. And because once you know about the larger consequences of the way we’re eating and what we’re doing to the planet, that also makes you feel better.”
Wilks sought the help of Louie Psihoyos, Oscar winning director of The Cove, who brought with him the backing of environmentalist James Cameron as executive producer. Psihoyos was also on hand at Sundance.
“As a photographer I didn’t shoot much of this film, but I have brought more of a cinematic sensibility so it’s fun to look at,” he told us. “It needed to be an action film.”
And action it is, with performance clips of champion strongmen, surfers, boxers, or marathon runner Scott Jurek, who ran the Appalachian trail in a record breaking 46 days.
“It really is an identity issue,” explains nutritionist Joseph Pace, also at Sundance to promote the film. “Vegan is stigmatised as this feminine, touchy-feely granola sort of thing. Young guys hooked on the cave man myth, what role models do they have? Their father, uncle, guys in their football team, so we’re giving them a set of role models who are stronger and faster than anyone they know. Originally, we thought we’d make the film mainly about men and really focus on male mythology, but we realised there are just so many amazing female athletes, so it wasn’t specific to men. It’s pretty universal when you look at the evidence for what humans are built to eat, the animal products are a foundational myth that started in the 1930s and ‘40s.”
Australian ex-Special Ops turned animal protectionist Damien Mander grew up on a farm in country Victoria, knowing all about the culture of hunting and animal farming. He features in the documentary and turned up in the press room to share his experiences.
“I come from a background where I used to exploit animals. I did a dozen tours in Iraq, then I did well in real estate and put all that into an organisation that defends animals. I think if I can go through that arc of transformation then I think anyone can. I’d spent the best part of a decade with elite units fighting on front lines, I ended up in Africa initially for a bit of adventure then saw the hard work rangers were doing and decided to put my skills to protecting the animals that were being poached. I realised I was going out protecting one group of animals then coming home and eating another group. We should be at the forefront of the vegan movement because of the environmental effects of the meat industry on the environment. I still consider the best thing I’ve done in my life is to go vegan.”
The movie is interspersed with compelling scientific evidence. A group of firefighters discover their cholesterol and blood pressure readings drop significantly after just one week on a vegan diet. American footballers are shown blood samples after just one meal of meat – cloudy, or vegan – clear. And there’s a funny disclosure of overnight readings of erectile function in young men that show a 20% increase after a vegan meal.
Ironically, Wilks’ father suffered a heart attack during the making of the film. Wilks urged him to adopt a vegan diet and at present he’s still going strong.
“One of the surprises for me was the speed at which things could change,” Wilks says. “Like the firefighters after one week, but there was also a lot of clinical evidence that didn’t get into the film. For instance, with heart disease, a plant-based diet is the only clinical measure known to reverse it, angiograms can actually see the arteries opening again.”
When even Arnold Schwarzenegger, the original steak and eggs body builder, appears on film to say at age 69 his cholesterol has never been better since going vegan, these passionate documentary makers are putting forward a compelling argument.
Pace tells us: “There was a study on young college men where they were given a soy burger and a meat burger but told they were the opposite. If they think they’re eating meat they report that they feel energised and strong, if they think they’re eating soy then they say they feel weak. The psychology overrides the logic. We’re narrative animals, we like to think we’re logical but we make our decisions based on our identities.”
The Game Changers tickets are on sale now.
