Interview: Raj Patel on The Ants and the Grasshopper

Raj Patel is an author, academic and activist, best known for books such as Stuffed and Starved, The Value of Nothing, or A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things. He is also a film-maker, and the director of The Ants and the Grasshopper, reviewed here and currently in cinemas.

JW: You’ve been an author, an academic and an activist. How did you find yourself directing a film?

Raj Patel: I was tired of being a ‘wonk’ in other people’s films. You’ve seen these films where it starts ...