A Matter of Fat

A Matter of Fat is a 1969 documentary film by William Weintraub chronicling the efforts of a 358-pound man, Gilles Lorrain, to lose half his body weight as part of a hospital supervised weight loss program.

In the film, Lorrain recounts his life and experiences, often with humour. In one 21-second time lapse sequence, Weintraub shows Lorrain's 150-pound weight loss, filmed at two frames a day for seven months. The film also shows Lorrain's return to his family after the gruelling program, and his conviction that he will be one of one in four dieters who can keep the weight off.

In addition to focusing on Lorrain's story, the film explores what other obese people are doing to lose weight, and hears from medical authorities on misconceptions and practices in the weight loss industry. A Matter of Fat also motivated the film's director to lose weight.

Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, A Matter of Fat features narration by Lorne Greene. The film received four awards, including the Etrog Award for best film over 30 minutes.