Shorts in Bra
Slow Food on Film

April 15, 2006

And by shorts I mean short films. And by bra I mean Bra, Italy, where the short film festival, Corto in Bra will host a programme titled Slow Food on Film. How fine it is to see one's sensibilities well represented, in a country that no longer has a vile mo fo as elected head of state.

As the Slow Food Movement's spokesperson and founder Carlo Petrini promised at this year's Berlinal Talent Campus, a number of short films at the BTC would be chosen and placed prominently within the Corto in Bra programme. This is great news, also because culiblog found quite a few of these films to be well worth watching. Nice to see my cinematic tastes reflected in the message of the Movement.

Although there's nothing short about them, both the Future of Food, by Deborah Koons Garcia, and Taggert Siegel's the Real Dirt on Farmer John will also be screened. Ms. Koons Garcia is the Slow Food on Film documentary jury chairperson and I'm pleased that this festival doesn't even pretend to be non-partisan like the big film festivals do. Amen.

You can start brushing up your conversational Italian by downloading the Corto in Bra Film Festival programme here.

The culiblog selection from the Slow Food in Film programme is here:

Wednesday - 26.04.2006
- 22.45h
CONCORSO SLOW FOOD ON FILM DOC
LA VIDA DULCE / La vita dolce / Sweet Life di Rouven Rech
& Bettina Blimner (Cuba/ Germany, 2004, BetaSP, 15’, col.)
(also screening at 16.30h on Sunday 30.04.2006)
An almost slapstick documetary short about Cuban subsidised cake distribution. If you're a Cuban mother on Mother's Day, you will get yer dang cake. After watching the short several times, it still confounds me that even though cake boxes are used in the transport of these generously frosted creations, no one puts the cake in the box, preferring instead to keep it on display, exposing the cake to all manner of dangers. Hilarious and sweet.

Thursday - 27.04.2006
- 21.00h
DOÑA ANA / La signora Ana / Mrs. Ana
di Marlon Vasquez (Colombia, 2004, DV, 1’44’’, col.)
(Incontro con gli autori / Meet the directors)
(also titled STRAWBERRY EATING WOMAN) Marlon Vasquez Silva, Colombia: This was by far the most unique film of the BTC, an animation comprised of beautifully created watercolours and collages addressing the plight of displaced farmers in Colombia. Without being overtly political, Strawberry Eating Woman lays bare the loss of cultural capital that occurs when small agricultural communities are destroyed. Surprising and refreshing, like an excellent little strawberry.

- 21.45h
THE FUTURE OF FOOD / Il futuro del cibo
di Deborah Koons Garcia (U.S.A., 2004, Beta SP, 90’, col.)

Friday - 28.04.2006
- 21.00h
THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN / La sporca verità sul
contadino John di Taggart Siegel (USA, 2005, DV/Super8, 58’, col.)
(also screening at 16.30h on Saturday, 29.04)

- 23.00h
LE PRIX D’UN PLAT / Il costo di una cena
The Cost of Dinner di Malam Saguirou (Nigeria)
- Incontro con gli autori / Meet the directors

Saturday - 29.04.2006
- 21.45h
CONCORSO SLOW FOOD ON FILM DOC
THE SOUP PEDDLER / Il venditore ambulante di zuppe
di Lisa Kaselak (USA, 2005, DV, 30’, col.)
I have not seen this film, but I am curious.

Sunday - 30.04.2006
- 22.30h
LA VENDEMMIA / The Grape Harvest
di Esther Koohan Paik (USA, 2006, DV, 21’, col.)
I have not seen this film, but I am curious.

- 22.50h
MALENKAYA KATERINA / La piccola Katerina /
Tiny Katerina di Ivan Golovnev (Russian Federation, 2004, DV, 5’, col.)
(also screening Monday at 12.30h)
TINY KATERINA. Ivan Golovnev, Russian Federation: Golonev admits readily that Tiny Katerina is a film about changing lifestyle more than about food. It documents the youngest member of a Northwest Siberian family that lives in a felt tent in near isolation. Katerina can't be more than two years old, but it is confusing whether she is playing at being an adult or is actually participating in the rigourous family chores! We see her lugging blocks of firewood around and cooking for the family's dogs. Two years old! Golovnev's camera is completely unobserved, offering an intimate view of a life that will soon vanish in the petrol politics currently plaguing this region. The documentary short has a distrubing ending that places the film within a larger political context.