“Olive” is a short documentary that follows Olive Hagemeier, an energetic woman, on her daily routine of salvaging, repackaging and redistributing food, and occasional other types of “waste”, across Atlanta, GA. Presented in a quiet observational style, this film is both a character study of a committed and enigmatic volunteer, as well as an ethnographic work that places the audience in the heart of a decentralized, volunteer-run mutual aid network in a “post-COVID” American city.
Amine Diare Conde fled from Guinea to Europe at the age of fifteen. His voluntary work makes the 22-year-old the best-known asylum seeker in Switzerland.
Megan, the captain of the local high school cheer leading squad, has been volunteered to work at the local food bank by her father during her Christmas holiday break. Megan is quite distressed as she wanted to shop and hang out with her two best friends. Through her volunteering, Megan learns all about "doing for others" instead of "getting what she wants". She also gains a few more relationships along the way.
In a forgotten seaside town in the north of England, seventy eight year old Dave hands out food and kindness to those in need. After ten years of austerity, this nuanced portrait of a volunteer-run food bank penetrates the harsh reality of contemporary Britain.