Meat the Future

2021 • 84’ • Canada

Imagine a world where real meat is produced sustainably, without the need to breed, raise and slaughter animals. This is no longer science fiction, it is now within reach. At the forefront of this urgent frontier is Mayo Clinic trained cardiologist Dr. Uma Valeti, the co-founder and CEO of Upside Foods (previously Memphis Meats), the leading start-up of the cultivated meat revolution. From a meatball which cost $18,000 per pound to the world’s first cultivated poultry for half the cost, the film follows Valeti and his team over five years as the cost of production plummets, and consumers eye the imminent birth of this industry. Proposing a game-changing solution, the film is narrated by Jane Goodall and features music by Moby.

Director / Producer:
Giedre Zickyte

Producers:
Daniel Chalfen, Uldis Cekulis, Catherine Simeon

Movie poster for "Meat the Future" showing a cow with a digital network pattern on its body, standing in a grassy field at sunset with a cloudy sky in the background.

Filmmaker’s Biography

An award-winning filmmaker who has written, directed, produced and filmed multiple impactful documentaries around the globe since the 1990s, Liz Marshall’s MEAT THE FUTURE (2021), chronicles the birth of the “cultivated meat" industry through the eyes of visionary CEO Dr. Uma Valeti. Liz Marshall opened our eyes to the inhumanity and environmental impact of animals exploited for food, fashion, entertainment, and research with her 2013 acclaimed film THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE. Additional titles are MIDIAN FARM (2018), about a 1970s back-to-land social experiment, and WATER ON THE TABLE (2010), about the human right to water amidst a global water crisis. Included in Marshall’s body of work is the STEPHEN LEWIS FOUNDATION TRILOGY (2007), about the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa, MUSICIANS IN THE WARZONE (2001), a War Child Canada/MuchMusic special presentation about war-affected children, and the 1995 music tour archive of folk-icon Ani DiFranco. Liz Marshall’s films have screened on multiple platforms and for diverse global audiences.