Scarborough native's film screens at documentary festival.
Professional eaters ply their trade in a scene from Scarborough director George Tsioutsioulas' documentary, 'The Story of Furious Pete'. The film, about an anorexic teen turned professional eater, will premier during the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto at the end of the month.
Photo/COURTESY
With the Toronto film festival Hot Docs kicking off at the end of the month, The Story of Furious Pete, a film produced and directed by TV personality and Scarborough native George Tsioutsioulas, has been garnering a lot of critical acclaim and is currently one of the hottest selling screenings. For Tsioutsioulas, documenting the story about Peter Czerwinski, an anorexic teenager turned body-builder and professional eater, has been one wild experience."I'm trying to enjoy the roller coaster ride," 39-year-old Tsioutsioulas said after recently discovering his film would also be screened at the Annual Okanagan International Film Festival in July, and another film festival in South Africa. "So far the reaction has been amazing."Tsioutsioulas grew up in Scarborough and became interested in making films after studying film and broadcast at Centennial College, before launching his career as a producer and TV host. A few years ago, while working on a travel show called, The Hospitality Guide, he visited Buffalo, New York to attend a chicken wing festival.He admits it wasn't the most exotic place, but he said the festival exposed him to a whole new world."It was just crazy," he said. "I couldn't believe seeing these people shovelling massive amounts of food into their faces."Tsioutsioulas said he was baffled when a small woman beat the much "larger" competitors at the eating contest. It made Tsioutsioulas curious, so he decided he wanted to make a film about professional eating."Its like the WWE," he said. "There is a huge subculture of people really into this sport."After coming back to Canada, he then found Czerwinski in Toronto, who is considered one of the best professional eaters in the world.But after finding out about his troubled past, Tsioutsioulas said the light bulb went off."Suddenly the story got deeper," he said. "It wasn't just about competitive eating anymore."Back in 2002, at 16 years old, Czerwinski suffered from male anorexia. At his most frail state, he weighed a mere 120 pounds and was brought to The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto where he almost lost his life.But he fought back, and thanks to the support of his family and friends, he got healthy again and turned his life around.In 2007, Czerwinski, a.k.a. Furious Pete, was first exposed to competitive eating. Now, he can wolf down 13 double patty burgers or a 72-ounce (2,041 gram) steak in less than eight minutes. "I have no idea how he does it," said Tsioutsioulas, who once witnessed Czerwinski inhale 17 bananas in 45 seconds. "After watching him eat, I thought to myself, 'This is gross, it's bizarre, and it shouldn't be happening.'" "Knowing all these things that were going on in his life, it was easy to tell an inspiring story," Tsioutsioulas said, adding that he hopes everyone who watches the film is uplifted by Czerwinski's ironic and unusual tale.The Story of Furious Pete will be screened at the Hot Docs Festival on Friday April 30 and Sunday May 9.For more information or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.hotdocs.ca/film/title/the_story_of_furious_pete