Yahoo Lifestyle Edward Norton To Narrate Wellness Doc ‘Fasting And The Longevity Revolution’ Directed By ‘BlacKkKlansman’ Editor Barry Alexander Brown
EXCLUSIVE: Edward Norton has signed on to narrate Fasting And The Longevity Revolution, a health and wellness documentary directed by Barry Alexander Brown, best known as a longtime editor on projects directed by Spike Lee.
The doc, which is currently in production, is produced by Chiara Tilesi through her production outfit Frequency Production. Her most recent feature credit is the Oscar-nominated anthology Tell it like a Woman. She is also the founder of the non-profit We Do It Together.
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Based on research by Italian-American biologist Dr. Valter Longo and other field experts, the film’s synopsis reads: Fasting and the Longevity Revolution travels from tiny villages in Calabria and Sardinia to cities like Milan, Genoa, and Los Angeles, and into the mountains of southern Ecuador to reveal that genetic mutations, fasting, or both can make simple organisms live 10 times longer and protect humans from cancer, diabetes, dementia and heart disease.
Scientists, centenarians, and patients tell the filmmakers how a mostly plant-based “longevity diet” and short periods of fasting can help people reverse obesity and diseases, and help prevent and treat cancer, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and autoimmune diseases in part by turning on stem cells and cellular reprogramming, making people biologically younger and more functional.
Leading nutrition experts including Valter Longo, Eric Ravussin, Marion Nestle, John Kopchick, Satchin Panda, Hanno Pijl, and Bernard Escudier will feature in the doc.
“When it comes to the impacts of diet and nutrition on human health it’s so important to separate anecdote and assertion from insights rooted in real clinical data,” Norton told us. “I’ve always found Dr. Longo’s work on both longevity and fasting to be compellingly rooted in real scientific analysis and also well-translated into protocols that are not hard to follow and stick with. I was happy to assist in the mission of this film.”
Producers have told us all the proceeds received from the sales and distribution of the doc will be invested in the Create Cures Foundation, a charity centered around the development of educational projects in schools to support children and the release of nutritional health care to support patients without financial means and those with serious illness such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Discussing the project with us, Alexander Brown said his decades-long career as a director and editor has been based around “films that dealt with social issues.” His credits include Do The Right Thing, Inside Man, Oldboy, Bad 25, and BlacKkKlansman with Spike Lee. Other titles include Son Of The South, Queen Of Katwe, and Altered Carbon.
“But by far the one that impacts each and every one of our lives the most is health. And overall health in the Western world is on a decline,” he said. “What was important to me was to make a film that looked at the bigger picture of what makes us sick and what can make us healthier. This film is based on the decades-long work of Dr. Valter Longo. It was necessary to transform his insight and depth of knowledge into a film version that could be accessible to a broader audience.”
Barry Alexander Brown is represented by WME. Edward Norton is represented by WME for voice work, UTA, and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.
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