On Wednesday March 12, food and movie enthusiasts will come together at the TIFF Bell Lightbox for a screening of Wong Kar-Wai’s 1994 film, Chungking Express. This screening will be followed by a discussion led by Peter Meehan, editor at Lucky Peach magazine. This is the first of six events planned for the third food on film subscription series.
JULEIN BALBONTIN/THE VARSITY
Theresa Scandiffio, a U of T alumna and TIFF’s manager of adult learning, explains that the series aims to “create a wider understanding of how food is represented on screen.” The series provides a chance for Toronto’s diverse and eclectic food and film enthusiasts to come together to participate in discuss food, both on-screen and off.
Those who know me, know that I spend a lot of my time thinking about food. A renewed obsession with Studio Ghibli this past Christmas led to the rediscovery of one of the most important films of my unremarkable childhood — the 1991 animated movie, Only Yesterday.
Although I cannot recall much of the film’s plot, one particular scene has stuck with me over the years. It involves the mother of a family dividing up a pineapple into individual slices. This is then followed by a scene depicting the family sitting around a table, each member consuming their own slice of the tropical fruit. Although everyone eats in silence, you can tell everyone is somehow connected through feelings of pure bliss, which can only be attributed to the communal experience of eating pineapple.
While there is no Ghibli on the program this year, the six films chosen for the series this year are as diverse as the guests speakers. The series starts with Chungking Express and ends in July with the sci-fi selection Soylent Green.
Guests include figures from the food industry such as Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar, who is the dessert mastermind behind Milk Bar’s crack pie and compost cookies. Tosi will be at TIFF on May 17 to talk about the whimsical creations found in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
This is not a chance to view the latest food-centric films on the circuit — film lovers will probably have already seen the films at least once before. The series is actually a chance for viewers to engage in a community that would otherwise not exist outside of the Lightbox. The invited guests bring their expertise to the table, providing a fresh perspective to our beloved classics.
When asked for her favourite food on film moment from the past two seasons, Scandiffo talked about the time in 2012 when Jacquy Pfeiffer, one of the pastry chefs featured in the documentary Kings of Pastry, brought “hundreds and hundreds of hand crafted macarons and caramels,” a true testament of a man dedicated to his craft. During his Food on Film talk, Pfeiffer revealed to the guests off-screen moments that were left out of the documentary. Audience members not only left with the stories Pfeiffer had to tell, but with samples of the caramels and macarons he brought along.
Each Wednesday night screening is a treat within itself. The food on film subscription series brings together foodies and cinephiles in a forum to talk not only about the cinematic form, but the role and depiction of food in cinema. As students, this series gives us a chance to take part in and continue the conversation about two otherwise unlikely pairings.
