Peter Czerwinski had a deadly secret. The Toronto teenager was suffering from anorexia. He simply gave up eating and went to great lengths to hide the truth from his parents and he couldn’t find appropriate help. Czerwinski nearly died before being hospitalised. Today Pete is well and happy and of all things, a world champion competitive eater and bodybuilder! His is an amazing story. Filmmaker George Tsioutsioulas tells it in his entertaining, sometimes heartbreaking but inspiring documentary The Story of Furious Pete, which debuts at Toronto’s Hot Docs Film Festival at the end of April.
AB – Congratulations on your accomplishments, for conquering anorexia and getting well. Cameras followed you through from your biggest triumphs to despair and tears. How did you cope?
PC - Competitive Eating for one reason or another has made me open about almost everything. There were a few things that we filmed that were rather difficult and somewhat embarrassing for me, but they had to be filmed and documented. I wasted so much of my life with Anorexia and I know that the only way to help others is to be honest about everything so that others can really take something from it.
AB -The world of competitive eating is fascinating. Most people won’t have the first notion that it even exists. What is the appeal?
PC - Appeal? It’s gross…why would anyone ever do something like this? I mean you don’t even taste the food and you aren’t doing your body or the person sitting next to you any good. But then again from another perspective it’s pretty cool. Eating is something everyone in this world does, but only a few in this world can make eating a sport by eating a large amount of food in a shockingly little amount of time. Eating ten pounds of food in ten minutes sounds like an impossible thing to do, but it is possible and to shock and most of the time disgust others is a very fun thing to do. And heck we are all good at something, I happen to be good at eating, and better at it than almost anyone on this planet.
AB - How are you able to cram food into your system and not suffer health consequences?
PC - I don’t do this everyday. That’s very important to remember, because if I did then I would be suffering the health consequences. Since I only do it once in awhile (weekly basis at most), I am able to maintain a healthy body with a good diet and exercise.
AB - How can a little wee stomach hold ten pounds of ribs?
PC - I have trained my stomach to stretch/expand through water training. I drink on average 8-10 litres of water a day, and the night before a contest I would drink 15 litres of water. I don’t have to do this too much anymore because my stomach has become accustomed to this. However people usually say I turn from a fit human to a pregnant looking one after eating for 10 minutes during a contest.
AB - Determination is the key to your recovery and success. Do you think you are different from most people?
PC - I don’t think I’m extremely different from others, but I am different. I am very aggressive with goals and what I want to do. A motto I more commonly use is ‘Dedicated for Life’, and that hold true with everything that I do. I don’t give up on the difficult things; I don’t give up on people and don’t give up on myself. I’m not different from others; I just have learned to approach life differently and effectively.
AB - You seem to have found your raison d’etre in the course of the film – helping raise money for MS research. Do you feel it’s become your goal?
PC - I think that two things from this film have become my goal. The first is definitely for raising more for MS research as my mom (who has MS) is my best friend, and I am more than determined to do what I can to help her. The second is to raise awareness, give people ideas and hope to stop their eating disorders, to help others help others with these illnesses. The main reason for this film was to share my story in such a way so that people can understand that they are not alone out there and that they can get well.
Anne Brodie - I review films each week on Corus and Rogers TV and for Metro News Canada, AskMen.com and Monsters and Critics. I profile celebrities for ...
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