Monday, September 24, 2012

3rd Annual Chicago Food Film Festival Selections, Nov 15-17


Photo Credit: Ryan Jensen

The Chicago Food Film Festival, the only film festival in the world where guests get to taste what they see on the screen, returns to Chicago this year with 17+ films, including four never-before-seen films and one United States premiere. Produced in association with the James Beard Foundation, the Festival will run November 15-17, 2012.

This year, the Chicago Food Film Festival will showcase 17+ food films including:
·      4 World Premieres;
·      1 United States Premiere;
·      and 12 Chicago Premieres.

Created by George Motz, Travel Channel host and documentary filmmaker behind the award-winning Hamburger America film, book and app, and Harry Hawk, the NYC Food Film Festival showcases the best of the world’s food and drink through documentaries, features and short films.

Along with a heaping helping of mouth-watering films, the three-day Festival will serve up the food that guests watch on the screen for a multi-sensory experience. Highlights include an authentic Wisconsin Friday night fish fry accompanying Fish Fry Night Milwaukee, the film Farmer Poet about an Illinois organic livestock farmer who writes poetry, and a special whisky tasting from all 8 distilleries on the Isle of Islay in Scotland alongside the Chicago premiere of Whisky:The Islay Edition.

The Chicago Food Film Festival offers guests the unique chance to taste dishes they would no longer have the opportunity to try, like Chef Philip Foss’s legendary “Fries + Ice Cream,” which was made famous at EL Ideas.  Chef Foss will bring it back for one night only alongside the Fries + Ice Cream film, a great food porn short showing the anatomy of the dish.

Awards will be presented in six categories:
·      Best Feature
·      Best Short
·      Best Super-Short
·      Best Food Porn
·      Audience Choice Award
·      Food Filmmaker of the Year

More details, including the announcement of Festival judges, partnerships, and the full schedule of events will be released in October.


Mozzarella Inc. 

Official Selections, 2012 Chicago Food Film Festival:
A selection of video trailers for these films can be found at www.thefoodfilmfestival.com.
 
Artisan Baker
Dir. Una Morera, 8 min, Chicago Premiere
Weaving philosophy with his love of food, a third generation Italian artisan baker discusses crafting and consuming food made with love.

Farmer Poet
Dir. Dan Fisher, Becky Liscum, Gail Grasso, 3:30 min, Chicago Premiere
Meet Harry Carr, an organic livestock farmer and poet.

Fish Fry Night Milwaukee
Dir. Ron Faiola, Chicago Premiere
A film about the history and tradition of the Friday Night Fish Fry and the people who create them.

Food Porn
Dir. Charles Grantham, 2:44 minutes, Chicago Premiere
Larry Cauldwell takes food porn to the next level… depending on your point of view, this may or may not be a good thing.

Fries + Ice Cream
Dir. Potluck Creative, 2 min, World Premiere
On a nightly basis, the chefs over at EL ideas are inventing new ways to challenge their guests' pallets. Following owner and head chef, Philip Foss, as he tells the story of his now signature dish "Fries + Ice Cream" from inspiration to plating.

Mama Sugar's Sweet Potato Cobbler
Dir. Keeley Steenson, 4:05 min, Chicago Premiere
Mama Sugar, matriarch of the Sugar Shack Trailblazers and country cooking extraordinaire, shares a lost recipe from her youth in East Texas – sweet potato cobbler.

Mexican Cuisine
Dir. Fran Guijarro, 4 min, Chicago Premiere
In California, the state with the largest Latino immigrant population in the country, there is a cuisine that has a deeper meaning.

Mickle's Pickle
Dir. Nathan Willis, 9 min, Chicago Premiere
Mickle’s Pickle tells the story of a small town pickle shop, its eccentric owner, and the theft of the store’s beloved icon.

Mozzarella Inc.
Dir. Matan Rochlitz, 22min, World Premiere
A former trance DJ and an ex club promoter are providing London's restaurants with the freshest Buffalo mozzarella on the market.  They won't stop at anything to be the best, even if it costs them their friendship.

One Macaron At A Time
Dir. James Reford, 4:59 min, World Premiere
Patrick Léze had been a pastry chef in France for close to forty years. He moved to Palm Beach four years ago and brought with him his best recipes, including one for a favorite pastry of his - that much to his surprise was not available in town.  He is working to change that one macaron at a time.

Perogy!
Dir. Tammy Marlowe Johnson, 19 min, US Premiere
Pierogi, Pirohy, Varenyky. Perogy. Whatever you call it ... everybody knows 'em, everybody loves 'em. These squeezable, delightfully eatable potato-pinched pockets of starchy goodness have transcended their humble Ukrainian beginnings to achieve rock star status among cultural foodstuffs.

Speakeasy Supper-Club
Dir. Jason Wallis and Taylor Robinson, 22:56 min, Chicago Premiere
Explore the culinary adventures of Push Start Kitchen in Atlanta, GA.  Follow chef Zach Meloy and his wife Cristina, as they create a dining experience that is not only inspired, but exquisite - a "southern speakeasy serving the world, ten people at a time."

Sugar Shack
Dir. James Boo, Ian Parker, 13:29 min, Chicago Premiere
The Sugar Shack is a Quebecois institution.  Sucrerie de la Montagne is a Quebecois legend.  This documentary short explores the business, culture, heritage and food of a Canadian maple farm at the peak of maple season – as preserved by Pierre Faucher, the most interesting French Canadian man in the world.

The Audacity of Hope
Dir. Cyrus Dowlatshahi, 2:32 min, World Premiere
Dehydrated and hungry, eight men sat in agony aboard a commuter train with over an hour left to go on their journey.  But they were well-trained.  “Yes we can,” they said, and coordinated a pizza delivery to an upcoming train platform.

The Benevolent Baker: Doughnuts
Dir. Scott Pitts, 1:38 min, Chicago Premiere
Food porn showcasing an orange-pistachio cake doughnut.

The Benevolent Butcher: Bacon
Dir. Scott Pitts, 1:23 min, Chicago Premiere
Bacon porn.

WHISKY: The Islay Edition
Dir. Olav Verhoeven, 60 min, Chicago Premiere
This feature documentary transports the viewer to a sanctum of the Scottish gold. It evokes the finesses of the liquor, the art of the tasting, the craft of the distillation, the history of the distilleries and the richness of the isle of Islay itself.
 
Proud Supporters
The Food Film Festival would not be possible without the help of these generous supporters: Sugar in the Raw, Jarlsberg, Frei Brothers Winery and Bon Appétit.

About Chicago Food Film Festival: Taste What You See On The Screen
The Food Film Festival sprang from the imagination of Festival Director George Motz, Travel Channel host and documentary filmmaker behind the award-winning Hamburger America film, book and app, along with co-creator Harry Hawk, formerly of Schnack andWater Taxi Beach. Through documentaries, features and short films, the Festival showcases the best, and the most memorable, of the world’s favorite foods. The NYC Food Film Festival is the only festival in the world that serves the food and drink that is seen in the films.

The Food Film Festival is a competitive film festival that presents awards in multiple categories including: Best Feature, Best Short, Best Super-Short, Best Food Porn, Food Filmmaker of the Year and the Audience Choice Award. The Official Selections of The Food Film Festival are reviewed by a judging panel, comprised of esteemed members of the food and film communities.

Also this fall, The Food Film Festival will host its 6th Annual NYC Food Film Festival from October 17-21 in New York City.

The Food Film Festival is produced by Grease Bomb LLC and Food Films America LLC. George Motz is the Festival Director. Seth Unger is the Executive Producer.


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