What's cooking at the 4th Annual NYC Food Film Festival

By Sarah Sluis

Forget popcorn and a movie. Try oysters, grits, pig ear sandwiches, burgers and craft brews. From June 23rd-27th, the NYC Food Film Festival will be giving festivalgoers the chance to "Taste What You See on the Screen." As someone who used to watch TBS' "Dinner & A Movie" while wishing someone would cook me the meal on the screen, this idea is pretty exciting. After attending the press preview of the event, I can say this: the Widow's Hole Oysters are not to be missed. They will be featured in one of four oyster-themed short films playing at the June 23rd event. The organizers have ordered six thousand oysters--apparently, larger quantities than any supplier has ever seen for one event.

Returning for its fourth year, the festival will show 39 films in five days, including thirteen world premieres, a record for the festival. I spoke with the director of Florent: Queen of the Meat Market (trailer here), which will make its world premiere on June 24th. Describing himself as more of an "8 a.m. breakfast" kind of patron of the Meatpacking District restaurant, which was famous for its after-hours crowd, director David Sigal had a chance to see the other side while making the documentary. Filmed during the restaurant's last six months before it closed, the doc also includes interviews with patrons such as Julianne Moore, Diane von Furstenberg and Isaac Mizrahi. Sigal cited Warhol's Factory as well as a documentary about Harvey Milk (which he mentioned you can watch for free on Hulu) as his inspirations. Why Milk? The restaurant owner, Florent Morellet, was a well-known community and gay activist. Sigal also revealed one of the crazier moments he filmed: people disrobing in the restaurant. At the Food Film Festival event, the movie will be paired with menu items from the restaurant, such as Evelyne's Goat Cheese Salad, which includes potatoes, goat cheese and pecans over a bed of greens.

Other highlights of the festival include the thirty-year-old film It's Grits paired with a grits throwdown for the best take on the Southern classic. "The World's First Food Truck Drive-In Movie" will feature food trucks and outdoor films, and on the final day, the festival will screen Beer Wars along with burgers and craft brews (the movie documents the David and Goliath struggle between small breweries and large beer companies). It's long been known that New York City is a cinephile city and a place to get great food, but it's pretty amazing that the creator of the film festival, George Motz (also the director of Hamburger Wars), found a way to combine the two.

For more information, go to the festival's website, nycfoodfilmfestival.com.