The 1st São Paulo Food Film Fest begins today (5th), in São Paulo, a film festival that will screen more than 40 films from 15 different countries, classics of fiction and contemporary documentaries related to food, culture and agri-food systems.
The productions will be shown until the 12th, in a hybrid form and free of charge, at Espaço Itaú Augusta and at Cinemateca Brasileira. Viewers in person will be able to participate in cycles of debates and tasting of “unforgettable” dishes from the cinema, after some of the screenings. The home audience will be able to watch the films through the official platform and children can participate in animation workshops in stop motion (computer animation technique).
The festival marks Food Month, a celebration chosen by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with the aim of involving governments and the population in the fight against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. “Our purpose is to bring, through cinema, urgent topics for discussion, while promoting the sensorial experience that gastronomy brings”, said one of the creators of the project, Daniela Guariba.
To put on the agenda urgent issues, which need discussion at the moment, the creators of the festival included titles with controversial themes, which draw attention to the current moment. According to data from the 2nd National Survey on Food Insecurity in the Context of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Brazil in 2022, hunger affects 33.1 million people in the country.
The movies Agriculture Family Size; Looking for Female Chefs (The Goddesses of Food); heat and The Great Quilombola Supper; A History of Waste (Wasted! A Story of Food Waste) and Park Slope Cooperative (Food Coop) will be displayed online and followed by tables with guests for debates on topics such as Agriculture and Hunger, Gender in the Kitchen, Ancestral Food, Production and Waste, Conscious Consumption and Solidarity Economy.
The event takes the opportunity to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the film Babette’s Feast, based on the work of Isak Dinesen, winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1988. The classic takes place in a remote Danish village, dominated by a Puritan tradition, where two single sisters fondly recall their youth. the arrival of Babette of Paris, fleeing the terror of the repression of the Paris Commune, will change their lives. Welcomed as a maid, years later Babette wins a fortune in a Paris lottery and has the opportunity to respond to the kindness and human warmth with which she was received, organizing an opulent party with the best dishes and wines of French gastronomy.
Japanese titles such as Tampopo – Brutes Eat Spaghetti Tooby Jûzô Itami, a comedy cult. Tampopo is a widowed restaurant owner determined to master the art of ramen – traditional Chinese noodles. the moroccan Adamby Maryam Touzani, is a sensitive plot that takes place in Morocco and shows the atmosphere full of aromas of wonderful breads and sweets and the drama of women in Moroccan society.
The program also features works that talk about the production of food and beverages such as The Brewers of the Time, by Aaron Hose; Brewmance; Love for Beer, by Christo Brock; Truffle Hunters, by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw; The Birth of Sakeby Erik Shirai; Bread: The Miracle of Every Day, by Harald Friedl, among others. Among the national films are Before the Dish by Carol Quintanilha; The Earth and the Plateby João Grinspum Ferraz and Fábio Meirelles, Stomach; and the documentary The Great Quilombola Supper.
For more information, just access the site or follow social networks Sao Paulo Food Film Fest and Instagram.
