“Undoubtedly, passion – and its mastery – is a driving force behind the work of cooks and filmmakers, and simultaneously one of its themes,” Festival Director Dieter Kosslick says in explaining the motto.
From February 12 to 17 Berlin will welcome back the 11th edition of the Culinary Cinema event that presents current short, documentary and feature films which focus upon all the various aspects of food. The programme is about taste and savouring life but also about environmental and social issues such as mass production, exploitation of people or the plundering of our natural resources.
At 7.30 pm the main programme ofCulinary Cinemawill present four world and one international premieres. Following these screenings, star chefs Eneko Atxa, Alexander Koppe, Tim Raue, Sebastian Frank and Christian Lohse will take turns serving a menu inspired by the films in the Gropius Mirror Restaurant.
The Spanish documentarySoulby José Antonio Blanco and Ángel Parra will open the programme. The film’s protagonist Eneko Atxa runs a restaurant complex near Bilbao in the Basque region. His exploration of the soul of cooking has him travelling to famous colleagues in Catalonia and Japan. Eneko Atxa (three Michelin stars, “Azurmendi”, Larrabetzu, province of Bizkaia) will create the meal on this first evening.
Barkeepers also have to master passions, as otherwise they might lose control of the situation. In the documentarySchumanns Bargespräche(Schumann’s Bar Talks) director Marieke Schroeder accompanies legendary barkeeper Charles Schumann to the world’s best bars. Alexander Koppe (one Michelin star, “Skykitchen”, Berlin) will cook.
In his episode of the Netflix seriesChef’s Table(dir: Abigail Fuller), Tim Raue tells how he succeeded in turning the negative energies of his youth into positive ones by cooking. In another episode, David Gelb, who createdChef’s Table, takes us to Korea, to the kitchen of a hermitage where Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan prepares temple food. Tim Raue (two Michelin stars, “Tim Raue”, Berlin) will take up his position at the stove ofCulinary Cinemafor the seventh time.
In Mark Tchelistcheff’s filmAndré – The Voice of Winewe learn that vines have to suffer to bear quality grapes. This knowledge from viniculture is, in a figurative sense, also true of André Tchelistcheff, an oenologist who emigrated from Russia. In the 1930s, after the end of Prohibition, he helped re-establish winemaking in California. Sebastian Frank (two Michelin stars, “Horváth”, Berlin) will serve the meal for this film.
InMonsieur Mayonnaise, Australian director Trevor Graham accompanies painter and filmmaker Philippe Mora who is researching his family’s eventful past. His father, Georges Mora alias Monsieur Mayonnaise fought in the Résistance. After the war he moved to Australia and founded an artist colony. Christian Lohse (two Michelin stars, “Fischers Fritz”, Berlin) will cook on this evening.
To wrap up the main programme,Culinary Cinema Goes Kiezwill present the Canadian productionTheater of Lifeby Peter Svatek at EISZEIT Kino. It shows how highly celebrated chef Massimo Bottura sets up a soup kitchen in Milan that cooks meals made from discarded food. Markthalle Neun and restaurant “Restlos Glücklich” will be responsible for this evening’s meal.
Find out more about Culinary Cinema here |www.berlinale.de