2024 Film Selection

Felipe Sanguinetti - URUGUAY | 4 mins

"A mouth-watering ode to the exquisite beauty of tomatoes

Amoris Pomum is narrated by prolific Argentine actor Ricardo Darín using the words of a poem written by the 1971 Nobel Prize for literature winner, Pablo Neruda."

Kate Arthur - UNITED KINGDOM | 27 mins

For communities in Afghanistan, the climate crisis isn’t a distant threat - it’s already here. Afghanistan is a country which holds a rich tapestry of history and culture, woven with an agricultural heritage that has sustained its people for millennia. Today, around three quarters of the population still depend on the land for their food and income. But in recent years, the catastrophic impacts that climate change is having on food security, livelihoods, and safety in Afghanistan - from multi-year droughts that decimate yields, to flash floods which wash away homes, crops and livestock - has been exacerbating an already dire humanitarian emergency which unfurled following the Taliban takeover in 2021.

Félicien Assogba - BENIN | 27 mins

Boubé and his Fulani tribe prepare for the seasonal migration with his tribe, an adventure that has sparked conflict over the recent years as water and grazing shrinks due to climate change. He has a plan to approach the tensions differently this time, in the hopes of finding a new way to co-exist.

Roshan Patel - UNITED STATES | 14 mins

Coffee farms in Colombia exist in some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. However, agriculture is putting pressure on that biodiversity that is causing catastrophic declines in migratory bird species. Farmers are working alongside Smithsonian scientists to come up with solutions that will be better for birds AND coffee.

Eric Treml - UNITED STATES | 20 mins

A German immigrant pickle-making family and their pursuit of the American Dream is challenged by the ever changing world affected by climate change, gentrification, and covid. The pursuit of happiness served sweet & sour.

Forrest Fox, Joe Dickie - UNITED STATES | 24 mins

Destination Regeneration is a docuseries taking viewers on an unexpected journey of healing, hope and revival in the heartland — a journey told through the eyes of farm and ranch families who are transforming their farms, families and futures by regenerating our living and life-giving soil.

Petra Fakiris, Ixchel Held-Villaseñor, Isaiah Ramirez-Crayton, Ezri Rubenstein-Miller, Kemicha Stephenson, Bryce Webb  - UNITED STATES | 4 mins

A team of teenage filmmakers tell the story of a unique collaboration which created the first sliding-scale farm stand in public housing, and a potential blueprint for food justice around the country. 

The film was made by a diverse group of teens during the liberation summer camp. After studying production and advocacy techniques, the group became interested in food justice, and particularly the connection between nutrition, mental health, and community wellbeing.

Sue Williams - UNITED STATES | 10 mins

Lisa Dyson is the founder and CEO of Air Protein, a company driven by ambitions almost as vast as space itself. As the 4th African American woman ever to earn a doctorate in physics, Lisa is well-equipped to take on its extraordinary mission: to create food from pure elements of the air. Building on a NASA project from the 1970s and a decade of their own research, Lisa and her team have invented an entirely new process that makes meat, bread, pasta and eggs from the air. The process doesn't require any arable land, is carbon negative and produces healthy food that tastes good in just hours. It seems like magic.

Anastasia Esther Forde - UNITED STATES | 34 mins

A documentary short subject that explores the beautiful and intense world of Philip Manganaro, renowned chef, forager, and owner of Park Place Café in Merchantville, NJ. For over a year, a team of award-winning creatives followed Phil to his “wild farms” including his secret Matsutake mushroom site. ​The film captures one man’s evolving artistic mission to forage ephemeral ingredients that no restaurant can buy and his innovative cuisine based on the bounty of the natural world.

Charlotte Rose B Frisk - UNITED STATES | 25 mins

The film explores the intersection of people and seeds, from all the way up to the Arctic Circle at the Svalbard Global Gene Vault to the middle of a wheat field in rural Denmark.

The documentary is a research initiative by Charly Frisk, a student at Yale School of Environment, and a collaborative initiative with the University of Oslo's Natural History Museum, funded by the Garden of Club of America, the Scandinavian Seminar, the Yale Program on Refugees, Forced Displacement, and Humanitarian Responses, and the Danish Heritage Society."

Hamilton Pevec - UNITED STATES| 20 mins

A look at the role of fungi in cheese making as told by French cheese makers and expert fermentation specialists.

Luisa Macedo. Santos - BRAZIL | 15 mins

Two grandmothers: one, now deceased, inherited a recipe notebook, while the other never wrote such a notebook, but is alive and has the recipes in her head. Based on her grandmothers' memories, the director delves into an investigation into social and racial inequality, gender, food and writing.

Rioin Oshiro - UNITED STATES | 21 mins

2024 James Beard award winning film, Great Wall, is a short documentary of a Chinese-American woman who comes from a line of restaurant owners 2 generations deep that immigrated to America from Eastern Asia in the early 1980s. Growing up scarred by the restaurant industry, the once successful chemical engineer couldn't help but discover her true calling, opening her very own dim sum restaurant. This documentary takes us on a journey of the conflict between family, self, and external expectations.

Kris De Meester - BELGIUM| 5 mins

"In “Jelly & Igloos"" we delve into the whimsical yet purposeful world of future food artist Mie Goffin. Through her introspective narration, we are invited into her creative process, shaped by childhood memories, a commitment to sustainability, and an unyielding desire for innovation.

Goffin's journey unfolds as she navigates the dualities of her dreams and challenges. She vividly describes her recurring dream of being trapped in a jelly, a metaphor for the creative struggles she faces. Despite the whimsy, there's an underlying tension—an urgency to break free and realize her umami-filled ideas."

Jeissy Trompiz - DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | 15 mins

In a small fishing village of Indonesia, Joko (47), a veteran fisherman, is struggling to catch fishes. The contamination for the industrial activities and the plastic pollution on the coastal area, have contributed to reduce the fish population and have made difficult the fishermen’s job. Joko’s son, Putra (17), is constantly connected to his phone. He has decided to study to become a mechanical engineer. With this decision, the family fishing tradition will definitively get lost.

Jesse F Pearlmutter - UNITED STATES | 8 mins

The film offers a glimpse into the world of oyster farming as documentary filmmaker Jesse F. Pearlmutter captures the beauty of harvesting oysters at the Fishers Island Oyster Farm in the nutrient-rich waters of Block Island Sound, New York.

Ines von Bonhorst, Yuri Pirondi - PORTUGAL | 8 mins

The film is an inspiring inner journey through the vivid memories of Michelin-starred chef Gil Fernandes. ""Memórias"" is not only the title of Gil's menù, it's also a creative diary where he recalls the flavours and the moments of his life.

Diplodocus Films - UNITED STATES | 7 mins

This short film celebrates resilience, identity, and the comforting power of food to reconnect us with our roots.

Natasha Hermann - CANADA | 33 mins

New Roots, Old Recipes' celebrates the rich cultural cuisines and diverse flavours in Toronto only possible by immigrant chefs who now call this city their home. It focuses on the lives of four successful chefs: Nuit Regular, Maha Barsoom, Simone Lawrence and Gulshan Alibhai; who find connection to their home countries through cooking. These women share the importance of keeping these cherished recipes alive through many generations, while feeding those who also miss the sense of home. This short documentary demonstrates how food acts as a powerful catalyst for building connections and fostering a sense of community, no matter where one finds themselves.

Yoga Bagus Satatagama - INDONESIA | 21 mins

Agriculture in Indonesia is getting worse, climate change and soil damage due to excessive use of chemical fertilizers are unstoppable, food security is a big issue for the country. Imam Subakat is a farmer who still practices ancient Javanese farming methods (local wisdom), Subakat's agricultural practices are very sustainable, for example not exploiting the soil, not using chemical fertilizers, and in harmony with nature. This has allowed him to survive amidst the decline of Indonesian agriculture. Through the songs taught by the ancestors, Subakat invites Indonesian farmers to return to the teachings of the ancestors and return to nature, so that Indonesian farmers can help overcome the problem of food crisis.

Hieu Gray - UNITED STATES | 9 mins

Filmmaker Hieu Gray embarks on a personal culinary exploration of her childhood hometown of Waycross, Georgia, as she navigates the intersection of Vietnamese and Southern cuisine, while shedding light on an untold chapter of Vietnamese American history in the South.

Geordie Trifa - CANADA | 13 mins

In Southern France, culinary enthusiasts gather at the famed retreat of internationally renowned chef and food educator Charles X Michel. ‘Scenes In a Coq Au Vin' unfolds against the backdrop of a timeless tradition—the sacrifice of a rooster in making an ancestral 'Coq Au Vin.

Colin Arisman, Oliver Sutro - UNITED STATES | 19 mins

Indigenous people and salmon have been intertwined for thousands of years in Bristol Bay, Alaska. The knowledge of harvesting, preserving and sharing fish is as important here as any lesson in a book. Today, kids must not only learn from their elders how to fish, but also how to fight. For the last century, corporations have sought to extract the wealth of this rich region. Now Pebble Mine threatens to pollute the pristine headwaters of Bristol Bay. “School of Fish” offers an intimate portrait inside one family's seasonal salmon rituals and their connection to the Bristol Bay Guide Academy, where local youth are empowered through flyfishing to serve as guides and conservationists. Can the next generation step up to defend the most prolific salmon run left on earth?

Jake Sumner - UNITED STATES | 30 mins

Narrated by Forest Whitaker, Seaweed Stories is a vibrant, global look at the wonders of seaweed, and some of the extraordinary stories and characters whose lives have been entangled by this often overlooked marine plant which may hold answers to some of humanity’s biggest challenges. Seaweed Stories includes insights from a Silicon Valley startup creating plastic alternatives from macroalgae, to the Indigenous Shinnecock Kelp Farmers using seaweed to prove their sovereign right to coastal land, and a scientist in South Korea supporting seaweeds’ sexual reproduction to create new species that can withstand the effects of a changing climate.

Jithu Raj - UNITED KINGDOM | 29 mins

Taste of Home is the story of a group of immigrants to the UK retracing memories of their home nations through food. The film is a journey that will explore the reasons why they left one country for another and ask the question, where is home?

Rosie Zopfi - NETHERLANDS | 4 mins

Luca Carli a 24 year old fine-dining shef opened his restaurant in the Netherlands only one year ago. Before that he worked for the number one restaurant in the world, Geranium, and many other michelin star chefs. But now its his turn to show the world his story. A story about creativity, family, and perseverance. In a 3.5 minute journey we get a glimpse of his wildly creative mind and inexhaustible energy.

Brett Chapman, Jordan Carroll - UNITED KINGDOM | 10 mins

Luke Ellis is a builder-turned-farmer that has set up an innovative new business in the heart of Sheffield’s industrial quarter. Leaf + Shoot is an underground vertical bioponic farm built in a disused spring factory. His closed loop system takes the food waste from local restaurants, cafés and businesses in his community and uses organic cycling methods including worm farms and hot composting to grow micro-herbs and vegetables beneath the streets of Sheffield.

Kalyn Edworthy - CANADA | 22 mins

A disconnected urbanite searches for a meaningful relationship with nature. Through the power of dirty hands and deep conversations, she discovers a community of regenerative Alberta foodies who are changing the system.

Antoinette Wilson - NEW ZEALAND | 16 mins

Hannah and Liam are the inspiring couple behind The Rubbish Trip, originally a nationwide tour offering free zero waste workshops around Aotearoa New Zealand. Now experts on the why’s and how’s of reducing waste, Hannah and Liam are our personal zero waste heroes – educators, advocates, and activists on a subject that is ultimately about so much more than waste. This short film offers inspiration and encouragement to all of us, no matter where we are on our waste minimisation journey.

Jaeeun Koh - KOREA | 11 mins

Felipe Sanguinetti - ITALY | 4 mins​

An unassuming prize, buried in the soil, the truffle is the diamond in the dirt of the culinary world. For those versed in where to find them, and how to cultivate them, the path to a small fortune traces its way through local woodlands, only hidden by shadow and the carpet of fallen leaves.

Ian Phillips - UNITED STATES | 7 mins

In 2004, Abdi Abajabal came to the United States from Ethiopia. In 2012, he decided to start a healthy juice shop in Harlem with only five hundred dollars to his name. Ten years later, he is still going. Directed, Filmed and Edited by Ian Phillips.

David Murdock - UNITED STATES | 39 mins

WILD HOPE: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE tells the inspiring story of how a late-career epiphany led “wacky genius” Pat Brown to abandon his academic career and commit himself to fighting global warming and biodiversity collapse, starting with a surprising product - an impossibly delicious plant-based hamburger. WILD HOPE is a series that highlights the conservation changemakers who are sparking new hope for the future of our planet.