Jiro Dreams of Sushi[/caption]
The world’s largest culinary film festival, Devour! The Food Film Fest (Devour!) will present 74 food-and beverage-focused films from 21 countries, running the gamut from eye-opening feature length documentaries to quirky and engaging short flicks at the eighth edition. Devour’s 2018 programming centers around this year’s overall theme of “The Power of Food and Film to Transform”.
“Film is a powerful medium that can help shine a spotlight on important issues, spark conversations, inspire others and promote meaningful change,” said Devour! Managing Director Lia Rinaldo. “We are experiencing a cultural shift where many of us are rejecting the status quo and looking to transform our lives. As a result, the culinary industry, among others, is going through this period of upheaval and transition, which we strived to reflect in this year’s slate of inspiring and impactful films that explore topics from food waste, sustainability, food security, environmental impact, gender equality, discrimination and politics, to name a few.”
The 2018 lineup includes 28 thought-provoking feature films including eOne’s Jiro Dreams of Sushi about 85-year-old sushi chef Jiro Ono, the proprietor of a three-star Michelin sushi restaurant inauspiciously located in a Tokyo subway station. The film will open the festival on Wednesday, October 24 and was personally selected by 2018 Festival Guest Curator Sam Kass, the former White House Chef for the Obama family and a healthy food activist. Each year, the festival’s opening guest presents their favorite food film of all time; the only retro title in the program.
Film highlights include the Thursday night gala film André – The Voice of Wine about André Tchelistchef, the godfather of California winemaking, directed by his nephew Mark Tchelistchef who will be in attendance; the Canadian premiere of returning filmmaker Gab Taraboulsy’s feature length biopic Funke, chronicling Chef Evan Funke as he sets up one of the hottest restaurants in Los Angeles, Felix Trattoria; the world premiere of the Canadian documentary Six Primrose, which chronicles the dramatic impact of accessing healthy food on the community of Dartmouth, NS; and the inspiring documentary Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story, chronicling Chef Eduardo’s recovery following a freak accident. Chef Eduardo Garcia is attending the Festival as a featured chef and will participate in the Celebrity Chef Dinner on Friday, October 26, alongside other top chefs still to be announced.
Devour! will screen several films that document the success of women and the challenges they face in the male-dominated culinary industry. A Fine Line, directed by Joanna James, explores why only six per cent of head chefs and restaurant owners are women and documents the rise of some of the most celebrated women in the industry including the World’s Best Female Chef and Devour! alumna Dominique Crenn and Emmy Award-winning TV Host Lidia Bastianich. Canadian Director Maya Gallus’ The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution profiles seven female chefs facing daunting professional obstacles, harassment and toxic environments. Thirty-six per cent of this year’s film program is directed by women.
The Festival will close with a feature drama from prominent Nova Scotia director Thom Fitzgerald. Splinters is an intimate drama about sexual identity, family and life in small-town Nova Scotia, filmed on an apple farm in the Annapolis Valley, mere minutes from the film fest’s location. This year’s program marks the festival’s largest program of Canadian content on screen at 32 percent of the films, including 17 per cent from Atlantic Canada.
Devour! will showcase 45 short films, including David Ma’s Hollywood-inspired recipe video series filmed in the aesthetic style of famous filmmakers: What if Alfonso Cuaron Made Pancakes?, What if Michael Bay Made Waffles?, What If Quentin Tarantino Made Spaghetti & Meatballs and What If Wes Anderson Made S’mores?. Additional programming includes six visually stunning films about Nova Scotia from the award-winning team behind the The Perennial Plate, and selections from returning filmmaker Kevin Kossowan’s James Beard Award Nominated Canadian series, From the Wild: Bay of Fundy and From the Wild: Devour! Edition.
A highlight of the festival program is the return of the Devour Road Show Celebrity Chef Dinner on Saturday, October 27, where a special program of five short films will be screened right in the barrel cellar of Lightfoot & Wolfville Winery, with chefs pulling their inspiration for their dishes right from the films.
All films are eligible for the Devour! Golden Tine Awards in five categories–Best Short Documentary, Best Short Drama, Best Feature Documentary, Best Feature Drama and Best Animation–chosen by an esteemed jury: Anita Stewart (Founder of Food Day Canada), Greg Rubidge (Syndicado Film Sales) and Dan Clapson (Eat North). The Awards Brunch will take place on Sunday, October 28 at Lightfoot & Wolfville Winery.
The 2018 Festival film screenings are:
Knife Skills
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2018 Devour! The Food Film Fest to Present 74 Culinary Films Under Theme “The Power of Food and Film to Transform”
[caption id="attachment_31694" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Jiro Dreams of Sushi[/caption]
The world’s largest culinary film festival, Devour! The Food Film Fest (Devour!) will present 74 food-and beverage-focused films from 21 countries, running the gamut from eye-opening feature length documentaries to quirky and engaging short flicks at the eighth edition. Devour’s 2018 programming centers around this year’s overall theme of “The Power of Food and Film to Transform”.
“Film is a powerful medium that can help shine a spotlight on important issues, spark conversations, inspire others and promote meaningful change,” said Devour! Managing Director Lia Rinaldo. “We are experiencing a cultural shift where many of us are rejecting the status quo and looking to transform our lives. As a result, the culinary industry, among others, is going through this period of upheaval and transition, which we strived to reflect in this year’s slate of inspiring and impactful films that explore topics from food waste, sustainability, food security, environmental impact, gender equality, discrimination and politics, to name a few.”
The 2018 lineup includes 28 thought-provoking feature films including eOne’s Jiro Dreams of Sushi about 85-year-old sushi chef Jiro Ono, the proprietor of a three-star Michelin sushi restaurant inauspiciously located in a Tokyo subway station. The film will open the festival on Wednesday, October 24 and was personally selected by 2018 Festival Guest Curator Sam Kass, the former White House Chef for the Obama family and a healthy food activist. Each year, the festival’s opening guest presents their favorite food film of all time; the only retro title in the program.
Film highlights include the Thursday night gala film André – The Voice of Wine about André Tchelistchef, the godfather of California winemaking, directed by his nephew Mark Tchelistchef who will be in attendance; the Canadian premiere of returning filmmaker Gab Taraboulsy’s feature length biopic Funke, chronicling Chef Evan Funke as he sets up one of the hottest restaurants in Los Angeles, Felix Trattoria; the world premiere of the Canadian documentary Six Primrose, which chronicles the dramatic impact of accessing healthy food on the community of Dartmouth, NS; and the inspiring documentary Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story, chronicling Chef Eduardo’s recovery following a freak accident. Chef Eduardo Garcia is attending the Festival as a featured chef and will participate in the Celebrity Chef Dinner on Friday, October 26, alongside other top chefs still to be announced.
Devour! will screen several films that document the success of women and the challenges they face in the male-dominated culinary industry. A Fine Line, directed by Joanna James, explores why only six per cent of head chefs and restaurant owners are women and documents the rise of some of the most celebrated women in the industry including the World’s Best Female Chef and Devour! alumna Dominique Crenn and Emmy Award-winning TV Host Lidia Bastianich. Canadian Director Maya Gallus’ The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution profiles seven female chefs facing daunting professional obstacles, harassment and toxic environments. Thirty-six per cent of this year’s film program is directed by women.
The Festival will close with a feature drama from prominent Nova Scotia director Thom Fitzgerald. Splinters is an intimate drama about sexual identity, family and life in small-town Nova Scotia, filmed on an apple farm in the Annapolis Valley, mere minutes from the film fest’s location. This year’s program marks the festival’s largest program of Canadian content on screen at 32 percent of the films, including 17 per cent from Atlantic Canada.
Devour! will showcase 45 short films, including David Ma’s Hollywood-inspired recipe video series filmed in the aesthetic style of famous filmmakers: What if Alfonso Cuaron Made Pancakes?, What if Michael Bay Made Waffles?, What If Quentin Tarantino Made Spaghetti & Meatballs and What If Wes Anderson Made S’mores?. Additional programming includes six visually stunning films about Nova Scotia from the award-winning team behind the The Perennial Plate, and selections from returning filmmaker Kevin Kossowan’s James Beard Award Nominated Canadian series, From the Wild: Bay of Fundy and From the Wild: Devour! Edition.
A highlight of the festival program is the return of the Devour Road Show Celebrity Chef Dinner on Saturday, October 27, where a special program of five short films will be screened right in the barrel cellar of Lightfoot & Wolfville Winery, with chefs pulling their inspiration for their dishes right from the films.
All films are eligible for the Devour! Golden Tine Awards in five categories–Best Short Documentary, Best Short Drama, Best Feature Documentary, Best Feature Drama and Best Animation–chosen by an esteemed jury: Anita Stewart (Founder of Food Day Canada), Greg Rubidge (Syndicado Film Sales) and Dan Clapson (Eat North). The Awards Brunch will take place on Sunday, October 28 at Lightfoot & Wolfville Winery.
The 2018 Festival film screenings are:
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First-Ever Meet the Press Film Festival Announces Lineup – “Heroin(e)”, “Election Day 2016,” “Osama and Ayman”
[caption id="attachment_25202" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Osama and Ayman[/caption]
The Meet the Press Film Festival in Collaboration with the American Film Institute (AFI) announced its full slate of official selections – 16 short-length political documentaries produced by filmmakers from across the country. The inaugural film festival will be held at the Landmark Atlantic Plumbing Cinema in Washington, D.C. on the evening of November 13. Film screenings will be organized under seven issues and followed by Q&As with the respective filmmakers and an NBC News correspondent.
The #1 most-watched Sunday show first announced its collaboration with AFI this past August, as both institutions joined forces in recognition of their milestone anniversaries — 70th and 50th, respectively — at a time when political documentaries are more popular than ever before.
2017 Meet the Press Film Festival Lineup
Battling America’s New Epidemic
“Heroin(e)“: Once a bustling industrial town, Huntington, WV has become the epicenter of America’s modern opioid epidemic, with an overdose rate 10 times the national average. This flood of heroin now threatens this Appalachian city with a cycle of generational addiction, lawlessness and poverty. But within this distressed landscape, Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon (“Hollow”) shows a different side of the fight against drugs — one of hope, highlighting three women working to change the town’s narrative one person at a time.Love and the Law
“62 Days“: Marlise Muñoz was 33 years old and 14 weeks pregnant with her second child when she died, suffering a pulmonary embolism. Pronounced brain-dead in a hospital in Fort Worth, TX, she had discussed her end-of-life wishes with her husband and did not want to be on life support. Director Sharon Liese tells the story of how, despite this, her family was forced to keep Marlise on mechanical support due to a little-known state law. “Edith + Eddie“: Edith and Eddie, at ages 96 and 95, became America’s oldest interracial newlyweds. Their love story, told by director Laura Checkoway, is disrupted by a family feud that threatens to tear the couple apart. Life After Prison “Knife Skills“: Over 650,000 people are released from prison every year. Director Thomas Lennon follows the launch of an haute cuisine restaurant in Cleveland, staffed by men and women recently released from behind bars to tell the story of re-entry, second chances and the healing power of fine food.Higher (Court) Education
“Fight for the First“: Director Rebecca Haimowitz addresses the freedom of the press in the Trump era through the eyes of journalists-in-training at the world’s oldest journalism school. “Gavin Grimm vs.“: Director Nadia Hallgren tells the story of transgender teen Gavin Grimm suing his local school board in 2016 after its members refused to let him use the bathroom of his choice. He was ready to take his case all the way to the Supreme Court — and then the election happened.The Cost of Justice
“A Debtors’ Prison“: Across the racially segregated landscape of St. Louis County, MO, thousands are routinely sent to jail because they cannot pay local court fines and fees. The vast majority of those fined are poor and black. Directors Brett Story and Todd Chandler follow two plaintiffs in an unfolding court case, as they describe the matrix of controls that subjected them to incarceration for being poor. “Shawna: Life on the Sex Offender Registry“: After having consensual sex with a younger boy while she was still a teenager, Shawna Baldwin found herself one of the 800,000 people on America’s sex offender registries. Director David Feige explores the effects on her life, as she is now in her mid-30s and a mother of three. “219“: A chilling portrait of the inner-workings of the death penalty in America, directed by Ed Hancox and told by the man once known as “the face of executions.” Living in America “Election Day 2016“: After a long and contentious presidential campaign, 10,000 people spontaneously came to pay tribute to Susan B. Anthony’s grave in Rochester, NY. They placed their “I Voted” stickers upon her headstone and expressed their pride and gratitude to America’s most famous suffragette. “Osama and Ayman“: Osama and Ayman are brothers, skateboarders, entrepreneurs, Americans and Muslims. As they skate through the streets of our nation’s capital, they navigate growing Islamophobia with characteristic style and humor in a film directed by Ben Mullinkosson, Sam Price-Waldman and Chris Cresci. “From Aleppo to L.A.“: Director Julia Meltzer tells the story of Dalya and her mother Rudayna fleeing Aleppo for Los Angeles in 2012. Can they hold on to their Islamic traditions in a country that doesn’t embrace them? “Roadside Attraction“: After a very famous airplane arrives at Palm Beach International Airport, an otherwise ordinary stretch of Florida highway attracts an avid cluster of excited onlookers and selfie-takers, directed by Ivete Lucas and Patrick Bresnan.On the Edge
“Ferryman at the Wall“: Originally proposed as an international peace park with Mexico, Big Bend, TX has a unique relationship with its southern neighbor. For the past 40 years, Mike Davidson has been ferrying tourists across the Rio Grande for a little taste of Mexican life — but now, as director David Freid shows, a great big border wall might divide the park. “Los Lecheros“: The fates of undocumented immigrant workers and Wisconsin’s $43 billion dairy industry are closely intertwined, as director Jim Cricchi tells the story of how both are grappling with their options for survival as fears of ICE raids and deportations under the Trump administration grow. “Monument | Monumento“: Director Laura Gabbert tells the story of Friendship Park, a unique meeting place along the US-Mexico border where family members and loved ones from both countries can see and speak to each other through a meshed fence, but cannot touch.
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BLACK BEACH/WHITE BEACH, GINGER NATION, KNIFE SKILLS, Among Docs Featured at Cucalorus Festival
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Black Beach/White Beach: A Tale of Two Beaches[/caption]
The 23rd Cucalorus Festival takes over downtown Wilmington, North Carolina, from November 8 to 12 and will feature more than 70 documentaries, including the world premiere of Ricky and Cherie Kelly’s racially-charged motorcycle doc “Black Beach/White Beach: A Tale of Two Beaches” and the international premiere of Shawn Hitchins’ fiery, flamboyant stage show-doc “Ginger Nation.”
One of many films crossing the divide between Cucalorus Film and Cucalorus Connect is Thomas Lennon’s “Knife Skills,” about a French restaurant staffed entirely by men and women just out of prison. Lennon shared, “I knew Cucalorus was a creative festival. What I didn’t know is how deep its roots run in its community, its passion to connect each film to an audience in a way that packs the biggest possible punch. They really go the extra mile, which makes the festival even more exciting for us.”
Other documentary debuts include the U.S. premiere of “Forbidden Games: The Justin Fashanu Story” by Jon Carey and Adam Darke, chronicling the complex and troubled story of a talented (and openly gay) British soccer player. “The Power of Glove,” from Andrew Austin and Adam Ward, presenting the legacy of the notoriously “bad” Nintendo Power Glove, and “True Conviction” from Jamie Meltzer, depicting a detective agency run by exonerated men to free innocent people, both make their southeast U.S. premieres. “ACORN and the Firestorm,” directed by Reuben Atlas and Sam Pollard, will have it’s North Carolina premiere and documents the amateur journalists who posed as a pimp and prostitute hoping to expose America’s largest grassroots community organizing group via hidden-camera.
Cucalorus also includes 55 short documentaries, including the world premiere of Joanne Hock’s “Martin Hill: Camera Man,” honoring a curator of cameras that shot some of the most iconic films in Hollywood’s past. Other key short docs include “Water Warriors” by Michael Premo, “Under the Mask” by Alex Hoelscher, and “Lonnie Holley: The Truth of Dirt” by Marco Williams.
Feature Docs
“No Dress Code Required (Etiqueta no rigurosa),” Cristina Herrera Borquez “True Conviction,” Jamie Meltzer “Rebels on Pointe,” Bobbi Jo Hart “ACORN and the Firestorm,” Reuben Atlas, Sam Pollard “Working In Protest,” Michael Galinsky, Suki Hawley, David Beilinson “The Power of Glove,” Andrew Austin & Adam Ward “Forbidden Games: The Justin Fashanu Story,” Jon Carey and Adam Darke “Motherland,” Ramona S. Díaz “What Lies Upstream,” Cullen Hoback “Knife Skills,” Thomas Lennon “The Road Movie,” Dmitrii Kalashnikov “Ginger Nation,” Shawn Hitchins, Mitch Fillion “Liberation Day,” Morten Traavik, Ugis Olte “The Work,” Gethin Aldous and Jairus McLeary “Purple Dreams,” Joanne Hock “Black Beach/White Beach: A Tale of Two Beaches,” Ricky Kelly