Village Gamer

TVO announces the world-broadcast premiere of the TVO-commissioned chocolate-centric documentary Semisweet: Life in Chocolate on Wednesday June 6 at 9 pm and 12 am. Encore presentations will be on Thursday, June 7 at 7 pm and 9 pm, and Sunday, June 10 at 11 pm.

Award-winning Ontario filmmaker Michael Allcock visits a free-spirited chocolate-loving couple in Haliburton, Ontario and discovers what makes chocolate-town Hershey, Pennsylvania so special, while following the personal journey of extraordinary characters whose lives have been intrinsically transformed by chocolate. For these people chocolate drives their lives, shapes their actions, haunts their thoughts, brightly colours their dreams – and darkens their nightmares.

At its darkest, chocolate production is a gateway into a world where African child labourers often suffer violence – even death. Semisweet: Life in Chocolate links stories from across Africa, North America and Europe – connected solely by chocolate. Although the paths of the characters have never directly crossed – their lives are interwoven through their relationship with chocolate.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epjEqCCFj3Y]

“We’re excited to be showing the world-broadcast premiere of Semisweet: Life in Chocolate right here on TVO,” says Jane Jankovic, TVO’s commissioning editor. “TVO documentaries open new worlds, and in this case, one that will leave you with both a sweet and bitter taste. The journey that chocolate goes through before it becomes a delicious mouthful is a complex one that raises many important social, economic and political issues worldwide.”

“Children are the biggest consumers of chocolate in the western world but we are unaware of the difficulties child workers in West Africa must go through so that we can enjoy the fruits of their labour at $1 a piece,” says Lalita Krishna, In Sync Media’s producer. “As a filmmaker who has worked on children’s rights, I felt compelled to tell this story. TVO’s point-of-view documentaries are an ideal format to help viewers engage in the story.”

In addition to the broadcast, Semisweet: Life in Chocolate will be available on TVO’s Doc Studio as of June 7^th. TVO’s Doc Studio is a platform to showcase documentary filmmakers and their work, and it also acts as a learning community that supports point-of-view filmmaking.

Choco-locate Mobile App

Choco-locate is a new smartphone app that uses GPS to help users track down fair trade, organic, artisan, vegan and raw chocolate based on their location. The top chocolates from each store are listed and users are invited to ‘like’, review or add comments. The app also features specials including in-store discounts.