Soul Food

Luis Bunuel’s surreal representations of ironies that make life,figure prominently in any film geek’s dictionary. His Academy Award-winning The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisi,is all poised to come to city cinephiles as a part of the food films festival organized by the Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre. Bunuel’s film revolves around a group of contrasting characters bound by their class,attempting to dine together. The French filmmaker tries exploring the structure and implications of what we call ‘civilization’ through the rituals that we associate with food and drink. Giving Bunuel company in the festival will be the likes of Ang Lee,Mrinal Sen,Pedro Almodovar,Wayne Wang and Peter Greenaway. Ang Lee’s Eat Drink Man Woman equates romance to necessities of life like eating and drinking. It tells the story of a widowed Chinese master chef and his three daughters. Lee also makes his characters demonstrate the nuances of Chinese gourmet cuisine in the film. Peter Greenaway’s 1989 Helen Mirren-starrer The Cook,The Thief,His Wife and her Lover is a twisted tale of love and revenge high on scatological,violent metaphors.

Seagull will also take its patrons on a nostalgia trip down old Bengali gourmet staples like Mughlai parathas,dimer devil and mishti doi. Musician and food connoisseur Nondon Bagchi will trace the colonial influences on Bengali food over a lunch with the guests. Bagchi will also introduce us to the intricacies of Kerala cuisine and its similarities with its Bengali counterpart. The session will be organized over a spread over lip-smacking Keralite delicacies.

The festival will be on from October 26-November 1. For more details contact Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre.