
When filmmaker Renee Fischer saw that Chris Amendola of Foraged had become a semi-finalist for a James Beard Award (Best Chef Mid-Atlantic in 2023), she thought she might make a documentary that focused on his commitment to sustainability at his farm-to-table eatery in Station North.
“My documentaries always have a social issue related to them,” says Fischer, who, in addition to being an independent filmmaker for Spring and Fall Productions, holds a day job as director of video and multi-media strategy at Johns Hopkins University’s Dept. of Development and Communications. “I thought that the story would be about the environment, that’s what drew me to it.”
That story, Forager, has led to an award of her own.
Last Sunday, Fischer won a coveted regional Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for her year-long project that began in the spring of 2023.
“I was trying not to get my hopes up,” says Fischer of the awards ceremony held at the Bethesda Marriott. “I was nominated a few years ago for a documentary on incarcerated fathers—and it was incredible to be nominated—but it didn’t win.”
With the cameras rolling at Amendola’s Station North eatery, the film took a different turn when the chef shared little-known details of his struggles with drug addiction.
“It started when I was 12 with smoking weed and using inhalants and taking prescription pills,” says Amendola, who reveals in the documentary that he was unhoused for a time. “It got really bad around 15 through 19. I decided to quit one day and never went to rehab.”
What he did do was start to work in restaurants. “Cooking saved me,” he says.
For the 20-minute documentary, which appears on MPT, Fischer and her team spent time filming Amendola cooking in his kitchen and also foraging for mushrooms in local forests.
“With the cameras on, it’s intense,” says Amendola. “You just hope you’re going to find something to talk about and not just take a walk through the woods.”
Combining archival images, interviews with the chef, and scenes with guests during dinner service, Fischer weaves together the inspiring arc of Amendola’s journey.
“The story has a lot of layers to it,” says Fischer. “There’s talk of sustainability, but I am also trying to build empathy. Anyone can look at the story and relate. Our lives have seasons. Sometimes we go down the wrong path in life—and everyone loves a comeback story.”