Make Hummus Not War (Trevor Graham, 2012): UK| USA | Palestine |Lebanon| Israel |Australia

Reviewed by Kelly Bader. Viewed at Santa Barbara Film Festival 2014.

The film “Make Hummus Not War” directed by Trevor Graham was about the fight for who originated hummus. Trevor Graham came up with this idea due to his own personal love for hummus. After researching the topic he found that it was a fight between Lebanon and Israel, so he then flew over to find out what they had to say for himself.

In the intro to the film we are told about how Israel holds the world record for the largest bowl of hummus, which is then shortly broken by Lebanon to take back what they believe they originated. Then we have a few close up shots on the basic ingredients used to make the hummus, followed up by an extreme close up of the final product. This scene I believe was very important since there are some individuals out there like myself who didn’t know what was used to make hummus. Then a few scenes later in the film we see some people making hummus by hand while some use food processors. Some believe that its flavors are more consistent when it is made by hand; even though it is more labor intensive folks believe it’s worth it.

The use of animation through out the film was used extremely wisely. The scenes such as Trevor’s divorce and the historical backgrounds that could be taken as deep and depressing were presented in a lighthearted way. Scenes such as these if not done correctly can completely throw off the pace in which the movie is flowing. However, scenes like this I find in documentaries are often needed to fill in the back history to inform the audience of how or why they have gotten to this point. The use of animation was definitely the right answer in this particular film.

In comparing this documentary to “Mission Blue” I find that they are very similar but also very different. For instance “Mission Blue” was about Sylvia and her finding an answer, but was filmed by someone else, but she was the main focus. But in “Make Hummus Not War” Trevor is trying to find an answer to his question as well, but he isn’t in the film rather it is him filming and having others answer the question and lead the story. In essence you can film a documentary about someone and have him or her tell the story or have someone else tell your story for you. Both ways are very effective you just have to choose which one will best fit your story.

I believe this film had more to do with just who were the originators of hummus. Trevor had this funny yet insightful way of saying that there are other ways to handle our issues with opposing countries rather then war. We all have these things in life that we enjoy, like hummus, and should channel our rage and anger into something we are passionate about. I know constantly fighting over who holds the world record for the largest amount of hummus may be a silly answer to solving Lebanon and Israel issues, but truly if you channel your anger in a different way the outcome will be more rewarding. In turn will also leave others out of harms way.