Slow Food on Film 2004: official announcement now available

April 2004 will see the return of Slow Food on Film, the marriage between food and short films, first celebrated (and what a success it was!) in Bra, Italy, in April 2002.

The fruit of a collaboration between Cinema Corto in Bra (Bra Short Film Festival) and the international Slow Food Movement, the first international competition for short films dedicated entirely to the love of food hosted 21 films from nine countries (Italy, United States, Great Britain, Japan, Australia, Greece, Canada, Austria and The Netherlands). The jury, chaired by the great American character actor Vincent Schiavelli, assigned the Gold Snail award to the Italian short Peperoni (Peppers) with a Mention of Honor to the AmericanOyster Guanaca. Packed cinemas, unanimous praise, lots of press coverage, a party atmosphere, ‘cinematographic dinners’ and international guests—the first Slow Food On Film Festival, hosted at the Bra International Short Film Festival last year, was all that and more.

From April 21-25 the experience will be repeated, with the addition of a new international competition for short documentaries dedicated to the memory of food, Slow Food on Film DOC, again hosted by the Bra Short Film Festival (which will be celebrating its fifth year). The entry form can be found on-line (in Italian and English) at www.slowfoodonfilm.itThis time round, Slow Food will be sponsoring two international competitions:

Slow Food on Film, which will award the Gold Snail and a cash prize of 5,000 euros to the best fictional short film (no more than 30 minutes) on food as an expression of culture or knowledge or technique, or as an emblematic element of a social condition, or a magical and/or romantic view of existence. The subject may also be approached through a view of food as passion and/or obsession, as a source of sacred or profane veneration and/or devotion …

Slow Food on Film DOC, which will award the Gold Snail and a cash prize of 2,500 euros to the best short documentary (no more than 30 minutes) dedicated to the memory of food, asks filmmakers to recreate awareness of an ancient recipe, a rare agricultural product heading for extinction or a gastronomic tradition that is dying out, through an audiovisual account. Our aim is to create, in collaboration with the directors of the films, an international archive of stories on the sapere dei sapori, the ‘savvy of savor’, to preserve a part of our identity that is gradually disappearing.

The basic idea behind this dual festival, unique of its kind, is to highlight the cultural component of food, stimulating eyes and palate to make the brain work! How? Through the cinematic genre freest from impediments and constraints, the boldest and most experimental of all—the short. It will also feature a host of other new ingredients that we are currently sourcing to further enhance the menu.

For spectators the appointment is in Bra on April 21-25 2004. But directors should get down to work as of now and send in their films by and no later than December 31 2003!

For info: [email protected]