The Liverpool-grown Food For Real Film Festival seeks to explore the environmental, cultural and political impacts of the foods we grow, eat, waste and share in a fun and accessible way.
It is also the only festival of its kind in the UK – and it return for a second annual outing from now until Sunday (Nov 24).
Curated by socially-engaged, creative food enterprise Squash Nutrition, the festival and this year has a particular focus on Food and Family.
Cinemas, cafes, gardens and even the city’s streets are playing host to a programme of over 30 food-related films, documentaries, animations and shorts accompanied by a host of talks, hands-on activities and tastingsfor all the family. All Food For Real Film Festival events are FREE to attend.
Highlights of this year’s festival include a discussion on supermarkets with leading food journalist Joanna Blythman, a chance to watch locally made animations alongside international food features, a challenge to ‘take a walk on the wild-food side’ with anautumn forage and the opportunity to bake your own loaf and spread it with Toxteth honey!
Squash Nutrition is a creative community health organisation and social enterprise based in Liverpool that since 2007 has aimed to make exciting food-based projects with people who have been marginalised from good food. The mission is to promote good food, urban agriculture and sustainable living. Squash use visual artists, horticulturalists, film-makers, chefs and writers of diverse ages and backgrounds who are passionate about developing new and vigorous arts and health practices.
WEEKEND FESTIVAL LISTINGS
FRIDAY 22ND NOVEMBER
OUTSIDER COOKING
WORKSHOP
10am-12noon, The Grapes
Outside is the new inside and gardens are the new kitchens - you heard it here first! Join outside(r) cooking enthusiasts Tom and Jackie whose idea of cooking from scratch means just that - the session starts with building the fire....on which a delicious winter stew will be communally cooked.
A PRIVATE FUNCTION: FEATURE FILM
Malcom Mowbrey/UK/1984/Cert 15 / 94m
10am, Odeon
It’s 1947 in a small town in England. War has been won but meat is still rationed, and almost every family is feeling hard done by. To celebrate the marriage of Princess Elizabeth the great and the good are illegally raising a pig for an exclusive dinner. When status-hungry Joyce Chilvers (Maggie Smith) and husband Gilbert (Michael Palin) steal the animal, scenes of farce and chaos ensue.
This first feature scripted by Alan Bennett is rich in 1940’s ‘cuisine’, English eccentricity and beautifully observed class snobbery. British treasures Liz Smith, Pete Postlethwaite, Alison Steadman, Denholm Elliot and Richard Griffiths also star.
SWEET ENOUGH
WORKSHOP
10.30 – 12.30, John Archer Hall
Free yourself from the white stuff and treat your taste-buds to a truly scrumptious sugar-less cooking workshop with Lisa and Kate.
PLANT A POCKET ORCHARD
WORKSHOP
10.30 – 12.30, The Hub
Your opportunity this festival to take direct action, dig deep and get your hands dirty. Join permaculture expert Steve Jones from Sector 39 for a pocket orchard planting workshop.
KITCHEN STORIES (Salmer fra kjøkkenet)
FEATURE FILM
12.30pm, Odeon
Bent Hamer / Norway / 2003 / Cert PG / 90m
In the early 1950’s a Swedish delegation, armed with clipboards, arrives in rural Norway to observe the domestic habits of single men. An unlikely and tender friendship blossoms between one of the Swedish ‘impartial observers’ and his grumpy Norwegian subject in this humorous study of male loneliness.
+ Semiotics of the Kitchen
Martha Rosler / USA / 1975 / Cert U / 6.21m
In alphabetical order, artist Martha Rosler ‘shows and tells’ the ingredients of the housewife’s day, giving a kitchen tour that names and mimics ordinary objects with movements that are more samurai than suburban.
DOUBLE DUTCH
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
4pm, Unit 51
A fine pair of Dutch films curated by the Food Film Festival, Amsterdam. Members of the FFF team will be introducing their choices and discussing their inspiring annual festival.
FACING ANIMALS
Jan van IJken/ Netherlands / 2012 / 29 m
Filmed from the perspective of pigs, chickens, dogs and cows, Facing Animals asks the difficult question; why is it that we treat our pets better than some of our fellow humans, while constructing a system designed to produce as many pork chops as cheaply as possible?
DIVINE PIG
Hans Dortmans / Netherlands / 2010 / 66 m
The story of a village butcher who raises a pig he calls ‘Dorus’ who he intends to butcher himself. Local residents see the eccentric Gerard taking his future meat for a walk and are horrified at the idea of the lovable beast ending up as their dinner!
The documentary highlights how people would rather not know where there food comes from or face the reality that the meat on their plates was once alive!
Delicious Dutch dishes available to purchase at UNIT 51 cafe
SOUL FOOD JUNKIES
DOCUMENTARY FILM
7pm, Toxteth Library
Byron Hurt / USA / 2012 / Cert tbc / 64m
Director Byron Hurt sets out on a historical, culinary journey to learn more about soul food - a quintessential American cuisine - its relevance to black cultural identity and its effect on African American health, good and bad. Through candid interviews with soul food cooks, historians, and scholars, as well as with doctors, family members, and everyday people, the film puts this culinary tradition under the microscope to examine both its positive and negative consequences.
ESTOMAGO: A GASTRONOMIC STORY (Estômago)
FEATURE FILM
9pm, The Brink
Marcos Jorge / Brazil/Italy / 2007 / Cert 18 / 113 m
A gentle but gritty tale of love, companionship and incredible food from Brazil. From the opening scene when unlikely food hero Raimundo describes a piece of Gorgonzola cheese in gastronomic detail to his prison cellmates, we know we’re in for a unique culinary adventure.
SATURDAY 23rd NOVEMBER
NATURE, NOW
CONVERSATION
10.00 am, FACT
This conversation will explore ways in which greater connection with nature at a neighbourhood level, through play, cooking, growing and foraging can bring the environment to life for everyone in Liverpool!
Hosted by environmentalist Gemma Jerome from social enterprise ‘At Home on the Earth’ accompanied by wild food and funghi expert Jesper Launder.
Plus short films:
+WALK ON THE TOXTETH WILD SIDE
Tim Brunsden/UK/Cert U/3m
+LEXICON OF SUSTAINABILITY; FORAGE
Douglas Gayeton / USA/Cert U/ 6.36
NOW, FORAGER: A FILM ABOUT LOVE AND FUNGHI
FEATURE FILM
11 am, FACT
Jason Cortlund + Julia Halperin / USA / Cert 15 / 93m
Lucien and Regina are foragers - they gather wild mushrooms and sell them to New York restaurants. Their lifestyle is simple, their income unstable. As Regina seeks more security and Lucien wants to devote himself to full-time nomadic foraging, their individual desires put their marriage to the test. Beautifully shot, still and moving.
NOW FORAGE!
WORKSHOP
1 – 3.30 pm
MEET OUTSIDE FACT
Join Jesper and Gemma + on an urban food adventure – a walk to explore what late autumn wild food we can uncover and savour. Bring sturdy shoes and a raincoat!
Open to all ages.
JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH
FEATURE FILM
11am, ODEON Liverpool One
Henry Selick / UK, USA / 1996 / Cert U / 89m
The first of this weekends Roald Dahl double bill – the tale of bereaved James Henry Trotter who escapes his unspeakably horrible Aunts Spiker and Sponge in a huge, magical peach! Celebrating friendship, teamwork and delicious peach flesh, this classic story is brought to life with a stellar cast and vibrant animation.
SOULFOOD FAMILY COOKING
FAMILY WORKSHOP
11 am – 1pm, John Archer Hall
Join Afro-Caribbean cook Grace Adegoke and learn the secrets to cooking up a delicious Dutch-pot full of goodness. Grace’s enthusiasm for foodthat warms the soul whilst being good for your heart, will help blow those November blues away!
SEED ART
FAMILY WORKSHOP
2-4pm, John Archer Hall
Have a go at making your own seed pod shapes and make your own delicious food bombs with artist Tabitha Moses, this years Liverpool art prize winner.
+ short film
The Farmer, the Architect and the Scientist
Jason Taylor + The Sourced Project with the Gaia Foundation / UK / 2013 / Cert U / 6.53m
SUPERMARKETS – A LOCAL INCONVENIENCE?
CONVERSATION
4.30pm, Toxteth Library
High streets no longer feature the happy family of shopkeepers - the butchers, bakers and greengrocers. In their place a sea of express, metro and local supermarket stores saturate the street corners of our cities and suburbs. Do these stores offer us a more convenient way to shop? Or do they provide less choice and a monoculture food market? What effect is this having on our shopping and cooking habits, our local neighbourhood economics and our health?
Join this timely and topical panel discussion where every opinion counts..!
Welcoming Joanna Blythman - the UK’s leading investigative food journalist whose books include What to Eat and Shopped; the Shocking Power of British Supermarkets and Kath Dalmeny - Policy Director of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.
SOULFOOD FEATURE FILM
George Tillman Jr / USA / 1997/cert 15 / 115m
7pm, John Archer Hall
Big Mama’s children and grandchildren meet at her table every Sunday. These gatherings are animated with the dramas of sibling rivalry and family strife but Mama’s constant love and soul food keeps the family strong. When she is hospitalised with diabetes, the family bond is in serious jeopardy ... someone needs to step up to the table!
Soulfood features a great cast including Vanessa Williams and Irma P Hall.
SUNDAY 24th NOVEMBER
THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE LOAF!
WORKSHOP + COMMUNITY BREAKFAST
Homebaked
Homebaked is a community-owned and co-operatively run bakery at the heart of the Anfield/Breckfield area, just opposite Liverpool Football Club.
Life of a Loaf Workshop
7 - 10 am (yes seriously!)
Join Homebaked’s home-grown baker Jessica Doyle for an early morning real-time baking experience. You will learn the basics about bread making and walk away with a loaf, some recipes and a state of the art kneading technique.
COMMUNITY BREAKFAST WITH SHORT FILMS
10.30am – 12
Come and join us for freshly baked bread straight from the oven, coffee, tea and time to watch films and chat. If you make your own jam or honey, bring some along for tasters! Open to all ages.
Short films include:
Brian Makes An Apple Pie by Tim Brunsden
Bread by Chintan Gohil
Michael Pollans’ Food Rules by Marija Jacimovic
FANTASTIC MR FOX
FEATURE FILM
11am, ODEON
Wes Anderson / USA / 2009 / Cert. PG / 86m
Fantastic Mr FoxLike all parents Mr and Mrs Fox just want to feed their young family. Each night Mr Fox steals chickens from three mean and wealthy farmers; Boggiss, Bunce and Bean. The farmers have had enough and try to destroy the family, but Fantastic Mr Fox outwits them at every turn. This clever and stylishly made stop-frame animation film based on Roald Dahl’s novel is a veritable feast for the eyes and features the voices of George Clooney and Meryl Streep.
Premiere of L8 food animation short films!
+ Seed
and
+ How does your garden grow?
Over summer 2013, animation artist Alice Kuchemann worked with 2 groups of talented folks in Liverpool 8 and together they produced these 2 beautiful short animation films.
BAWARCHI
FEATURE FILM
4pm, Mayur Restaurant
Hrishikesh Mukherjee /India/1972/Cert. U/ 130m (with interval)
Meet the Sharmas - a family in domestic chaos whose squabbling and fighting is well known in the neighbourhood. Life in the house is so awful that no-one can bear to work for them – without a cook or any help around the house, things are going from bad to worse.
Then Raghu turns up on the doorstep offering his services. The family quickly fall under the spell of the multi-talented chef who restores harmony in the house....but is Raghu too good to be true?
+ KERALAN COWBOY
Jason Taylor and the Source Project/2013/Cert U/5.53m
Food
Come and try a taste of Bollywood-on-the-Mersey as Mayur restaurant creates an authentic Indian cinema experience with special snacks and cinema treats on sale.
THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN
DOCUMENTARY FILM
7.30pm, The Brink
Taggart Siegel/ USA/ 2005 / Cert 12a / 82m
The epic tale of a maverick mid-western farmer – John Peterson, filmed between 1996 and 2004. John’s father died when he was a teenager and as the only boy in the family it was expected that he take up the reins and run the families 360 acre farm in Illinois. This incredibly moving biographical film tells the story of his struggle – an outcast from his community during a failing economy, amidst rumours and violence. We come to learn that the real dirt on Farmer John is mostly honest dirt – as we witness his attempts to do right by the farm and his family.
+Adolfo the Farmer
Jason Taylor and Sourced TV/ UK / 2013 / Cert U / 4.06m
Food
Delicious seasonal dishes will be available to purchase from the Brink kitchen from 6.30pm
Seed Pod Cinema
Watch out for ‘Pod’ – our beloved electric milk-float that will be taking (slowly – 15mph!) to the streets as a mobile streetfood cinema. Keep an eye on twitter and facebook for screenings info as ‘Pod’ pops up in a street near you!
Popping Up:
Cinema Espresso:
Food for Real comes in all shapes and sizes; watch yourself a mini food film at Mello Mello with our super small projector. You’ll also be able to purchase delicious film-themed seasonal veggie dishes! Mello Mello, 40-42 Slater St, L1 4BX
Tasty Leftovers
Missed a Food for Real film you really wanted to see? Got a group who’d prefer a special showing? Then our film catch-up service at on Wednesday 27th 5-8 pm or Friday 29th 10-1pm Thursday 28th 4-7pm might work for you. Call Clare on 0151 7077897 to arrange.
Popcornucopia
Watch out for tasty popcorn flavours popping up at Food for Real venues. Check out ‘Jamaican me love you’ jerk and ‘Sweet Cinema-pop’ cinnamon snack delights!
