Take 5 with "DIVE!"

The 7th annual Oxford Film Festival is getting closer every day. Before we kick off another fun-packed festival, we thought we would take five with filmmakers and get to know them just a little better.

Jeremy Seifert, director and writer of "Dive!" may come across as having a good time, but has also created an eye-opening documentary about one of the most difficult subjects of our time, world hunger.

"Dive!" screens Friday, Feb. 5 at 11:15 a.m. before the Distribution Panel, and Saturday, Feb. 6 at 12 p.m. with Streets of Plenty.

OFF: In 10 words, describe your movie and why someone should see it.

JS: "Dive!" will inspire you and your family to eat trash!

OFF: Biggest lesson learned in getting the film made? Best part in getting the film made?

JS: Since I took on all aspects of producing, directing, and editing "Dive!," I quickly learned that I would never put myself through that again while working full-time and raising a family. Creating a film from start to finish, no matter how small the scale, is an immense amount of work. This was my first film, so I was a bit naive and paid for it in hours of sleep!

The best part of making "Dive!" was making "Dive!." It involved my dearest friends and family, and I was able to think deeply about the subject of food waste and hunger, and imagine how to creatively communicate the problem and inspire people to get involved in being part of the solution. It was beautiful to experience all the help and support as it came together in the final moments...I couldn't have completed it without all the generous souls who lifted it through the final stages.

OFF: Tell us about you. What is your movie making background?

JS: "Dive!" is my first film. I have B.A. in English Literature and a Master's degree in Theology and the Arts.

OFF: What’s your dream distribution plan for the film?

JS: I would be absolutely thrilled, but totally unsurprised, if Dreamworks, Lionsgate, and Sony all fought over my film and ended up creating a new entity called something like DreamyLions devoted to disseminating "Dive!" around the globe. Of course, I would get loads of money and use it to make more films....but still eat out of the dumpster from time to time.

OFF: What does the future hold in store for your film and for you?

JS: I finished "Dive!" in August of 2009 and in the few short months that it's been out it has won First Place, Director's Choice Awards at the Gig Harbor Film Festival and Best Green Film at Mammoth Film Festival. And it has just been accepted into about seven more festivals.
I hope that this humble little film, made on a $200 budget, will continue to inspire and challenge people.

I hope that it serves as an impetus to real change in home and communities. We all eat food and waste food every day, so the film really does speak to nearly all of us here in the United States. I'd like for the screenings to become events, like the screening a few weeks ago in Glendale where we had a huge dumpster feast after the screening and also had people from local food banks and the organization Bread for the World.

This could be a very practical and unique grassroots movement to create a zero waste mentality and policies throughout the U.S., and a greater awareness about the value of food, it's relationship to the health of our planet, and our interconnectedness with all people and all of life, especially with the some 1 billion people who suffer from hunger.