“City of Servers” — A Worker-Made Film About Portland’s Restaurant Industry

Portland, Maine has become a foodie destination in recent years with its artisan restaurants earning top praise in national magazines like Bon Appétit and drawing in tourists from all over. But what is it like for the working class people who prepare, cook and serve the food? 

In her new 18-minute documentary film “City of Servers,” Maine filmmaker Elora Griswold follows four servers living in Portland to learn how they survive on tight monthly budgets. The film also features interviews local restaurant and food truck owners and political operatives involved in the fight over a the recent failed minimum wage referendum campaign.

Griswold, who is in her final semester at Southern Maine Community College, also draws on her own experience working as a waitress and barista struggling with constantly changing schedules and low wages.

“On a personal level, it's an attempt to understand the apathy I experienced from employers while working in Portland's food industry trying to pay for school as a waitress,” writes Griswold on her film’s fundraising page. "Yet on a community level, this film will serve as an active investigation into unionization efforts, the minimum wage debate, how inflation impacts restaurant owners and staff, and wealth inequality in Portland, Maine — which, at least in my opinion, are all issues worthy of documentation and attention.”

At its core, Griswold says the film seeks to answer the following questions: “Is there an answer to the minimum wage debate? How is wealth inequality impacting the working class of Maine? And why is the city a playground for the few but increasingly unaffordable for most?”

“There’s a way Portland is marketed and there’s a way that it actually is living here. They’re not the same thing,” Griswold recently told the Bangor Daily News. “We put a lot of money into promoting the food part of this city, the grandeur and all of the great things. But we don’t pay attention to the day-to-day grind and the people trying to live in this city who can’t afford to get to their job or park on the streets.”

As the BDN reported, some scenes in the film are dramatized to protect her worker sources, who describe poor treatment, unhealthy working conditions “rampant misogyny and sexual harassment” in kitchens.

The film will premier at SMCC’s annual Maine Mayhem Film Festival in Portland. According to the BDN, Griswold is considering making a longer cut for online streaming or television.