A student from Los Altos has nearly completed a documentary aimed at spreading awareness about food allergies.
Braxton Kimura, a rising senior at Pinewood School, said he has been working on the project, titled “The Last Bite,” for seven months and expects to release the film later this summer.
Kimura has a personal connection to the topic; he was diagnosed with nut allergies at 14 months of age after being rushed to the hospital for anaphylactic shock from eating peanuts.
“I want people to take food allergies seriously. It’s not a diet or a preference – it’s actually a disease that myself and 33 million other Americans live with,” Kimura said. “Overall, just having an understanding of that can really just help save a life, as silly as that may sound.”
Kimura added that he kept quiet about managing his severe food allergy until taking the social entrepreneurship program at his school last year. This prompted him to launch a community initiative called Beyond the Shell that raises awareness of food allergies. In the spring, he hosted a Food Allergy Awareness Fundraising Walk with the nonprofit Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE).
With hopes of making a nationwide impact, Kimura said he felt that the most natural step was creating a documentary, with support from FARE.
“I think a lot of people tend to think that we’re picky eaters or we’re being extra. (People think) that it’s not really a big deal, but I think we’re trying to express how severe food allergies are,” Kimura said. “It’s a life or death scenario, and that you shouldn’t really judge someone based on that, which is why I try to encourage people to speak up about their own allergies.”
Kimura’s search for a videographer and editor led him to Upwork, an online platform that offers freelancers working in an array of fields. He said a videographer on Upwork agreed to film and edit Kimura’s film for free to support the cause of spreading awareness about food allergies.
Kimura said the videographer filmed him playing basketball, walking around school and interviewing guests.
Kimura added that he wrote a story arc on his own, outlining the message he wanted to share with his viewers. He next scheduled interviews with people to deepen the story beyond his personal experiences. Kimura interviewed a parent advocate who lost his son to an allergic reaction while traveling; Dr. Sung Poblete, CEO at FARE and Michelle Gannon, his social entrepreneurship and English teacher at Pinewood.
In particular, Poblete said she was impressed by Kimura’s efforts of turning his life-threatening disease into a leadership initiative.
“Braxton is a real problem solver, working to bring people together – I always say that communication, cooperation and collaboration are the keys to advancing any effort and Braxton’s work is a perfect example of that principle in action,” Poblete said in an email.
Along the way, FARE helped Kimura with the process, including helping with deciding which trailer of the film to release to the public in order to effectively get his message across.
While his trailer is finished, the documentary itself is still a work in progress. Once completed, “The Last Bite” will be streamed on YouTube and possibly screened in a local theater, according to Kimura.
For more information on the documentary, visit beyondtheshell.co/thelastbite.
