The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution

Julia

November 2021 •English

Using never-before-seen archival footage, personal photos, first-person narratives, and cutting-edge, mouth-watering food cinematography, the film traces Julia Child's surprising path, from her struggles to create and publish the revolutionary Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) which has sold more than 2.5 million copies to date, to her empowering story of a woman who found fame in her 50s, and her calling as an unlikely television sensation.

Obaida

April 2019 •English

OBAIDA, a short film by Matthew Cassel, explores a Palestinian child’s experience of Israeli military arrest. Each year, some 700 Palestinian children undergo military detention in a system where ill-treatment is widespread and institutionalized. For these young detainees, few rights are guaranteed, even on paper. After release, the experience of detention continues to shape and mark former child prisoners’ path forward.

Ministry of Food Cookery Hints No. 3 - Potatoes

January 1940 •English

A short film made by the Central Office of Information about how to cook Potatoes, with narration from Max Munden.

Bigos 06

November 2010 •Polish

A son films his father preparing the Polish Christmas dish bigos - a process that takes four days.

The Perfumed Garden

April 2000 •Arabic

THE PERFUMED GARDEN is an exploration of the myths and realities of sensuality and sexuality in Arab society, a world of taboos and of erotic literature. Through interviews with men and women of all ages, classes, and sexual orientation, the film lifts a corner of the veil that usually shrouds discussion of this subject in the Arab world. Made by an Algerian-French woman director, the film begins by looking at the record of a more permissive history, and ends with the experiences of contemporary lovers from mixed backgrounds. It examines the personal issues raised by the desire for pleasure, amidst societal pressures for chastity and virginity. The film discusses pre-marital sex, courtship and marriage, familial pressures, private vs. public spaces, social taboos (and the desire to break them), and issues of language.

The Cooking Show

February 2021 •English

The cooking show is as old as television itself. But why do we like watching the making of a meal that most of us will never cook, let alone eat? Dirty Furniture’s jam-packed video essay is a rollercoaster ride through the history of the genre, at once a staple of television viewing and a hotpot of shifting perspectives and sociocultural values.

Perfect Image?

January 1989 •English

Two actresses take us through a series of 'raps' and sketches about what it means to be beautiful and black.

How to Cook Your Life

May 2007 •German

A Zen priest in San Francisco and cookbook author use Zen Buddhism and cooking to relate to everyday life.

Cruel and Unusual

October 2006 •English

Five transgender women share their prison experiences. Interviews with attorneys, doctors, and other experts are also included.

Gender Revolution: A Journey with Katie Couric

February 2017 •English

Katie Couric travels across the U.S. to talk with scientists, psychologists, activists, authors and families about the complex issue of gender.

Genderbende

May 2017 •Dutch

A compelling feature length documentary about five young people who neither feel male nor female, but rather somewhere in between.

Blind Sushi

October 2017 •English

A blind adventure writer and the first sustainable sushi chef search for enlightenment in the murky depths of the New England coast.

Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain

July 2021 •English

An intimate, behind-the-scenes look at how an anonymous chef became a world-renowned cultural icon. This unflinching look at Anthony Bourdain reverberates with his presence, in his own voice and in the way he indelibly impacted the world around him.

Merci Bocuse

October 2019 •English

A young and ambitious team of chefs face the life-changing challenges of competing in the world's most prestigious culinary competition.

Family Album: The Rama Jama's Story

November 2023 •English

In the shadow of Bryant-Denny Stadium stands one of the most iconic Tuscaloosa restaurants, Rama Jama's. This local diner is a key tradition in the Alabama Football season, and its own story has much to tell.

James Beard: America's First Foodie

April 2017 •English

Food in the 21st century has become much more than “meat and potatoes” and canned soup casseroles.” Chefs have gained celebrity status; recipes and exotic ingredients, once impossible to find, are now just a mouse click away; and the country's major cities are better known for their gastronomy than their art galleries. This food movement can be traced back to one man: James Beard. His name graces the highest culinary honor in the American food world today—the James Beard Foundation Awards. And while chefs all around the country aspire to win a James Beard Award, often referred to as the “culinary Oscars,” many of those same chefs know very little about the man behind the medal. Respected restaurateur Drew Nieporent summed it up when he said, “Everybody knows the name James Beard. They may not know who he is, but they know the name.”

Typhoid Mary

January 1993 •English

Story of Mary Mallon. Typhoid fever carrier

Kate Bornstein Is a Queer & Pleasant Danger

June 2014 •English

For decades, performance artist and writer Kate Bornstein has been exploding binaries and deconstructing gender. And, her own identity. Trans-dyke. Reluctant polyamorist. Sadomasochist. Recovering Scientologist. Pioneering Gender Outlaw. Kate Bornstein Is a Queer and Pleasant Danger, joins her on her latest tour capturing rollicking public performances and painful personal revelations as it bears witness to Kate as a trailblazing artist theorist activist who inhabits a space between male and female with wit, style, and astonishing candor. By turns meditative and playful, the film invites us on a thought provoking journey through Kate's world to seek answers to some of life's biggest questions.

Soul

July 2017 •English

Soul explores the secrets of gastronomy where two cuisines apparently so opposite in their philosophy, conception and experience, have both earned the highest culinary recognition, three Michelin stars.

KFC: How Do They Really Do It?

January 2023 •English