Mouth-watering season celebrating food on film

Ryan Finnigan, Programme Manager

I have loved film and food for my whole life and these hobbies have become unhealthy obsessions, something that has been enhanced deeply by moving to Sheffield. There is nothing I enjoy more than the two together, from the smell of popcorn in our cinema to replicating recipes from the movies at home. For me, food and film are always intertwined.

Opening at Showroom Cinema on Wednesday 22 March, the Food on Film season is a mouth-watering celebration of food in cinema and will explore the various roles that food plays in film and how food and film influence one another.

An eight-week tasting menu of four screenings and four lectures, opens with a double bill of Les Blank documentaries, Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers and Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of Cajun and Creole Cooking. Exploring food as a film subject, the accompanying discussion will look at documentaries and films covering food itself, including the history, appreciation, and ethics of food.

The main course offering of Juzo Itami’s Tampopo may well be the only “Ramen Western” in film history, and offers both an unforgettably off-kilter twist on the western genre and an education in the art of ramen. Alongside the film, we will explore how food has been used to enhance and subvert film genres, and how it has often been used as a political metaphor.

Our 'chef’s special' is arguably the most beautifully observed and authentic depiction of running a restaurant, Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott’s Big Night. The film lovingly depicts the creative care and passionate attention paid to the professional preparation of food, creating a charming and hilarious delight for food lovers. The accompanying discussion will look at the meticulous craft of food creation and the depiction of chefs in cinema.

Finally, a celebration of all things sweet with Adrienne Shelley’s Waitress, the perfect ending to a good meal. This final accompanying session is designed to indulge in the escapism of both food and film, looking at the creation of pleasure and how cinema has lovingly captured food.

From the very beginnings of cinema, early shorts like 1895’s Baby’s Meal put the act of feeding, eating and nurturing on screen. In contemporary cinema, films including The Menu, Boiling Point and We Feed People show no sign of this food fascination ending soon.

The Film Studies ‘Food on Film’ season begins Wednesday 22 March, season passes and individual tickets for films and lectures, are on sale now: showroomworkstation.org.uk/food-on-film.