“Trust in Taste” is the motto of the 6th Culinary Cinema of the 62nd Berlinale that will be held from February 12 to 17, 2012. Fifteen films about food and the environment will be presented in the Martin-Gropius-Bau.
This year’s Culinary Cuisine includes a remarkable number of premieres.
In Felipe Ugarte’s and Juantxo Sardon’s Mugaritz B.S.O., musician Felipe Ugarte translates delicious and visually pleasing culinary dishes made by Basque star chef Andoni Luis Aduriz from San Sebastián into music. The musician and the cook show how ingredients for a dish and music develop worldwide out of a region’s landscape and tradition. Andoni Luis Aduriz is coming extra to Berlin to prepare a meal for his film.
Entre les Bras (Step Up to the Plate) by Paul Lacoste documents the stirring change of generations at the French three-star restaurant Bras in Laguiole. Father Michel Bras is convinced that getting to the top is easier than staying there. After this documentary, Michael Kempf will have the delicate task of creating a meal inspired by the French cuisine.
In the documentary Last Call at the Oasis by Oscar-winner Jessica Yu, experts and tireless activists, such as the real Erin Brockovich, fight the local and global misuse of water. Filmmakers and experts discuss surprising ways to solve the shortage of water. One proposal involves recycling wastewater. Christian Lohse will cook a meal for the occasion.
In TSAO Jui-Yuan’s fictional film Joyful Reunion, a top vegetarian chef is forced to close his restaurant because he has lost his memory. When he eats a dish from his childhood, his memory comes back and he recognizes his first love again. Named Cook of the Year by Der Feinschmecker magazine, Marco Müller will prepare a meal that captures this melodrama.
The late screenings at 10 p.m. will focus on social and ecological topics. In Das Rohe und das Gekochte (The Raw and the Cooked) Monika Treut documents the emergent green movement in Taiwan. On a powerful visual journey around the world, Canned Dreams depicts the plight of all the workers who contribute to producing a can of ravioli. Lupe el de la Vaca (Lupe of the Cow) presents several small-scale Mexican farmers who master their harsh lives with humour and music. In the Korean gangster film Hindsight, the boss of a gang falls in love with a fellow student during a course in cooking. In Oma & Bella, Alexa Karolinski portrays how her grandmother and her grandmother’s girlfriend cultivate Jewish traditions in Charlottenburg.
A number of shorts films will supplement the programme: Should The Wife Confess? (Bernardo Camisão), Asparragos (Laura Zuallaert), Lepokoa (Safy Nebbou) and Pokot Ash Yoghurt (Francesco Amato, Stefano Scarafia).
“Youth Food Cinema” will address the importance of traditions in the family at 9:30 a.m. on February 17. The Mexican film Canela (Cinnamon) by Jordi Mariscal tells the story of a girl, her grandmother and their love of cooking. Afterwards, the chef of the Mexican embassy, Armando Hernández, will prepare a Mexican meal with students. As Grandmother Tere says in the film: “Cooking well is not a question of age but of talent.”
Films in Culinary Cinema 2012
Canela (Cinnamon) Mexico
By Jordi Mariscal
With Ana Martín, Isabel Yudice, Norma Angélica, Mónica Dionne, Carlos Cobos
World premiere
Canned Dreams Finland
Documentary by Katja Gauriloff
International premiere
Comme un chef (The Chef) France
By Daniel Cohen
With Jean Reno, Michaël Youn, Raphaëlle Agogué, Julien Boisselier, Salomé Stevenin, Serge Larivière, Issa Doumbia, Bun Hay Mean
International premiere
Entre les Bras (Step Up to the Plate) France
Documentary by Paul Lacoste
World premiere
Hindsight Republic of Korea
By Lee Hyeon-seung
With Song Gang-ho, Shin Se-kyung, Chun Jeong-myung
European premiere
Joyful Reunion Taiwan/China
By Tsao Jui-Yuan
With Gua Ahleh, Huo Siyan, Lan Zheng-Long (Blue), Kenneth Tsang
World premiere
Last Call at the Oasis USA
Documentary by Jessica Yu
International premiere
Lupe el de la Vaca (Lupe of the Cow) Mexico
Documentary by Blanca X. Aguerre
International premiere
Mugaritz B.S.O. Spain
Documentary by Felipe Ugarte, Juantxo Sardon
German premiere
Oma & Bella Germany/USA
Documentary by Alexa Karolinski
World premiere
Das Rohe und das Gekochte (The Raw and the Cooked) Germany/Taiwan
Documentary by Monika Treut
World premiere
Short films
Asparragos Belgium/Peru
Documentary by Laura Zuallaert
German premiere
Lepokoa (The Scarf) Spain/France 2003
By Safy Nebbou
With Pilar Rodríguez, Joseba Apaolaza, Olatz Beobide, Manu Gaigne
Pokot Ash Yoghurt (Living Food Communities) Italy
Documentary by Francesco Amato, Stefano Scarafia
World premiere
Should The Wife Confess? Belgium/Portugal
By Bernardo Camisão
With Sofia Caessa, Hilbren Buys
German premiere