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Z365" or "Festival all year round" is the new strategic point of the Festival in which converge investigation, accompaniment and development of new talents (Ikusmira Berriak, Nest); training and cinematic knowledge transfer (Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, Zinemaldia + Plus, Filmmakers' dialogue); and investigation, disclosure and cinematic thought (Z70 project, Thought and Discussion and Research and publications).
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Four foodie films and a series will make up Culinary Zinema. The section, jointly organised by the San Sebastian Festival and Basque Culinary Center, will be made up of five stories set in gastronomies of Argentina, Germany, China, Peru and France. The world premiere of the Argentine series Nada / Nothing, directed by Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat, will open the Culinary Zinema section, and La passion de Dodin Bouffant / The Pot au Feu, by Tran Anh Hung, winner of Best Director in Cannes, will bring it to a close. The section will run in competitive fashion once again this year. Four productions will compete for the Culinary Zinema Best Film Award, coming with 10,000 euros for the winning film
Culinary Zinema, which will also include five themed dinners related to the screenings, was introduced this morning at the LABe (Digital Gastronomy Lab) by the director of Basque Culinary Center, Jose Mari Aizega, and by the director of the San Sebastian Festival, José Luis Rebordinos.
Nada / Nothing, a fiction mini-series of 5-episodes running for 30 minutes each, will open the section. Directed by Gastón Duprat (Bahía Blanca, Argentina. 1969) and Mariano Cohn (Villa Ballester, Argentina. 1975), the tandem responsible for El ciudadano ilustre (Goya for Best Ibero-American Film, 2016), Todo sobre el asado (Culinary Zinema, 2016) and Competencia Oficial (Official Competition,Perlak, 2021), returns with Nada, the tale of a food critic in dire straits due to the lack of resources and the death of his maid. The series features Luis Brandoni and Majo Cabrera, and Robert De Niro as a Special Guest Artist in the latest episode.
Tran Anh Hung (Danan, Vietnam. 1962), who made his debut with The Scent of Green Papaya (Zabaltegi 1993), received the Best Director Award at Cannes for La passion de Dodin Bouffant / The Pot au Feu, the film closing the section. In the movie, set in the late 19th century, Juliette Binoche plays Eugenie, who has cooked during 20 years for the gourmet Dodin (Benoît Magimel), but has never agreed to marrying him.
In Nan fang nan fang / Back to the South, first feature from the director Xiao Haiping (Hunan, China. 1986), the star of this fiction leaves Beijing, her work and her boyfriend to open a homestay in her hometown, where she cooks for the guests and listens to their stories.
Mariano Carranza (Lima, Peru. 1989), a producer and director of documentaries known for his work in films and series taking food as their excuse to explore human naïveté, perseverance and creativity, will present Pachacútec, la escuela improbable / Pachacútec, The Improbable School,which will participate out of competition as it is a medium-length film. This non-fiction, produced in collaboration with the chef Gastón Acurio, tells the tale of three Peruvian chefs who found the road to success in their profession thanks to a school in a poverty-stricken area of Lima.
The other documentary in the section is She Chef, from directors Melanie Liebheit (Münster, Germany. 1973) and Gereon Wetzel (Bonn, Germany. 1972), who formerly screened El Bulli: Cooking in Progress (2011) in this section. She Chef follows a young chef, Agnes, as she proceeds with her work experience at some of the world's top restaurants.
Themed dinners
The five films in the section will be accompanied by themed dinners, to take place from 25-19 September at Basque Culinary Center. The joint tickets for the screenings and the dinners will go on sale tomorrow, 1 September, at the price of 80 euros, through the Festival and Kutxabank websites (sansebastianfestival.janto.es and kutxabank-zinemaldi.janto.es). Tickets for the films alone will go on sale from 17 September at a price of 8.50 euros, except in the case of Pachacútec, La escuela improbable / Pachacútec, The Improbable School, a medium-length film, which will therefore cost 4.25 euros.
Culinary Zinema's themed dinners will kick off on September 25 following screening of the mini-series Nada. Chef Narda Lepes, named Latin America's Best Female Chef in 2020 and culinary adviser on the mini-series, will offer a gastronomic experience paying tribute to Argentinian cuisine, making references to well-known figures and restaurants in the Buenos Aires gourmet scene. Diners will also have the opportunity to enjoy a pairing accenting an excellent selection of the country's wines by Bodega Zuccardi.
The evening of September 26, linked to the film Back to the South, will take us to a gastronomy committed to the environment and the vegetable world. Martina Puigvert, Head Chef at Les Cols, with two Michelin stars and one Michelin Green star; and Carlos Casillas, owner and head chef at Barro, both former students at the Basque Culinary Center, will offer a foodie proposal based on the territory, roots and authenticity, turning the spotlight on the pure and seasonal nature of garden produce. Mendialdeko Ogia's artisan and organic breads will complete the dinner menu.
The dinner on the 27th, complementing the film Pachacútec, la escuela improbable / Pachacútec, The Improbable School, will be served by the chefs starring in the movie: Alan Larrea, from the restaurant Percado, Gerson Atalaya, from the Sens Restaurant, and Jhosmery Cáceres, from La Mar. The dinner prepared by six hands will reflect their time at the Pachacútec foundation and the professional career of the three young chefs. Coming with an international slant, diners will taste signature dishes from the restaurants they currently work in Lima, Luxembourg and San Francisco, with a clear Peruvian influence.
For the screening of She Chef, on 28 September it will be the turn of the chef and protagonist of the film, Agnes Karrasch. The dishes prepared for the dinner will take diners through the most important moments in her professional career, paying tribute to her time at the Vendome (Bergisch Gladbach), Disfrutar (Barcelona) and Koks (Faroe Islands). Karrasch will also be joined by Poul Andrias, Head Chef, and Nino Fjordside, Head of Research and Development, at Koks (with two Michelin stars and one Michelin Green star).
Finally, on 29 September, chefs Sébastien Zozaya and Fabian Feldmann will close this edition of Culinary Zinema with a period banquet. Taking his inspiration for its design from the film La passion de Dodin Bouffant, Sébastien Zozaya will serve up some of his most characteristic dishes. For his part, chef Fabian Feldmann, from the Michelin-starred L'Impertinent, will create some of the dishes appearing in the film, classics of French cuisine, such as Baked Alaska.
Culinary Zinema will function as per its regular format of ten diners to a table, encouraging people to engage in discussion and enjoy an even richer experience. The teachers and students of the Basque Culinary Center will participate in all dinners, collaborating both in the kitchen and in the dining room.
| FILMS |
A sophisticated food critic, art lover and provocateur (his business card gives his name and says "nothing" underneath, thumbing his nose at professions and roles) has lived for decades with a woman who does everything for him, a sort of personal assistant, housekeeper and cook. One day she dies and he realises that he is incapable of doing anything for himself. Deciding to take in an untrained, naïve girl from Paraguay, he has to teach her from scratch about the countless aspects of his life (his relationships, personal tastes, culture, gastronomic preferences, etc.). This cultural and generational clash will lead to unusual, intense, contradictory and tender situations that will serve as a learning curve for both of them. TV mini-series with 5 episodes.
1885. Chef Eugénie has worked for the famous gourmet, Dodin, for the last 20 years. With the passing of time, their gastronomic endeavours and mutual admiration have flourished into a romantic relationship. Their association has led to unique dishes, capable of satisfying the most demanding palates, but Eugénie values her freedom and has never wanted to marry Dodin, prompting him to do something he has never done before: cook for her.
After drifting in Beijing for many years, Lin Shanshan returned to her hometown in the south and transformed the old house she once lived in with her grandmother into a homestay. Here, she experienced four wonderful and heartwarming stories with her guests.
In a hidden spot in the outskirts of Lima, in a poverty-stricken district, is a school that the whims of fate decided should exist: the Pachacútec Cookery School. For more than 15 years the school has changed the lives of more than 400 men and women chefs, giving them a profession that has lifted them out of their destitution while filling their lives with dreams, thus forging a new generation of Peruvian cooks. This documentary follows the case of three young alumi from the school, who now enjoy success in different parts of the world. In San Francisco, what started as work experience earned Jhosmery the position of pastry chef in a reputed Peruvian restaurant. In Luxembourg, Gerson takes up the reins of a kitchen with modernist ambitions. And in Lima, Alan runs a successful ceviche business. All saw gastronomy as a chance to get ahead.
She Chef is the portrait of young chef and recent culinary world cup winner Agnes on her journey to mastery through three of the most outstanding restaurants in the world.
| PROGRAMME |
Monday 25 – Basque Culinary Center
Nada / Nothing
With a vocation encompassing cuisine, communication and gastronomic enterprise, Narda Lepes is highly versatile. Her skill in all areas can be seen from her literary works, including Ñam - Manual para alimentar a un pequeño omnívoro and 201 tips para no comer como el or**, her fortnightly column in the Argentinian daily La Nación, and her TV collaborations. In 2017 she opened Narda Comedor, a landmark thanks to which she was listed among Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, and in 2019 Narda Comedor Diario –now turned into the sophisticated pastry shop Lepes –followed by Narda Lokanta in 2022. In 2023, her creative vision led her to open Kona, an innovative tribute to the Japanese foodie culture. In November 2020, her influence earned her recognition of The World's 50 Best as Latin America's Best Woman Chef.
Tuesday 26 – Basque Culinary Center
Nan fang nan fang / Back to the South
The rural landscape of La Garrotxa is the setting for Les Cols, a restaurant committed to the environment, where value is placed on the produce grown in its vegetable garden. Marina Puigvert is currently head chef of the family establishment. An alumnus of the Basque Culinary Center, Martina completed a series of work experiences at prestigious restaurants including Lua (Madrid), Koy Shunka (Barcelona), Blue Hill at Stone Barns (New York) and Gustu (Bolivia).
Carlos Casillas, originally hailing from Ávila, opened the MûD Wine Bar in 2021 after completing his studies at the Basque Culinary Center. Gradually the project has evolved, abandoning its essence as a wine bar to emphasize its gastronomic aspect, finally opening the doors of the Barro restaurant in early 2023. Together with his team, Casillas offers a proposal dedicated to handing down the zone's local gastronomic and cultural legacy through the product, its history and origin.
Wednesday 27 – Basque Culinary Center
Pachacútec, La Escuela Improbable / Pachacútec, The Improbable School
Alan Larrea discovered his passion for cooking while working as a dishwasher. Having stoked his interest in the sector thanks to his self-taught endeavours, the opportunity to make his dream come true finally arrived with support of the Pachacútec Foundation. Today, Alan works in the kitchen of Percado, a popular ceviche bar in Lima. His success is obvious, and he is in full swing of producing a new gastronomic vision: a more relaxed concept where he will serve burgers with sauces of his own creation.
Gerson Atalaya, originally from Peru, is one of the many young people to have benefitted from the Pachacútec Foundation, backed by chef Gastón Acurio and many other benefactors. He started studying gastronomy in 2014, prompting him to discover his true passion and talent. In 2019 he moved to Luxembourg to work at the Kay, a modern and creative restaurant concept, until February this year. Gerson is currently head chef at the Sens Restaurant, located in the same city.
Jhosmery Cáceres is a graduate in gastronomy from the Pachacútec Foundation. Thanks to her work experience at the Celler de Can Roca, she discovered her love for pastry-making. She later spent time at different restaurants in Lima. Today she is pastry chef at the La Mar restaurant, in San Francisco, owned by the famous Peruvian chef, Gastón Acurio.
Thursday 28 – Basque Culinary Center
She Chef
Agnes Karrasch grew up in the small town of Murnau am Staffelsee, nestling in the Bavarian Alps. She began training as a chef in 2017 at the Steirereck restaurant in Vienna. She won the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg in 2018 with the Austrian national juvenile team. After the competition, she worked at the Vendome, at Disfrutar in Barcelona and at the Koks on the Faroe Islands. What was meant to be a stay of two months has become her place of work ever since. Today she is the restaurant sous chef and is completing her second season in Greenland.
Poul Andrias Ziska (Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, 1992) studied gastronomy at the Food College Aalborg (Denmark), and has worked at renowned restaurants including Geranium (Copenhagen) and Mugaritz (Errenteria). He is currently head chef at Koks in the Faroe Islands, awarded two Michelin stars and one Michelin Green star for its commitment and efforts to represent the identity of the islands and the environment through a gastronomic proposal composed around ancient and local ingredients.
Nino Fjordside has been working at Koks Restaurant since 2021 as Head of Research and Development. Originally from Copenhagen, Fjordside studied cooking and pastry and has trained at renowned restaurants in Europe such as El Celler de Can Roca (Girona, Spain), L'air du Temps (Liernu, Belgium), Geranium (Copenhagen) and Noma (Copenhagen), among others.
Friday 29 – Basque Culinary Center
La passion de Dodin Bouffant / The Pot au Feu
Sébastien Zozaya, born in Bayonne, has been the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Worker in France) since 2019. Zozaya trained at the Tarbes CFA charcuterie school and at the CEPROC in Paris. He has spent time in the kitchens of Martín Berasategui, Louis XV – Alain Ducasse in Monaco and has enjoyed a variety of experiences in Barcelona and Dubai. At his Biarritz and Bayonne stores he produces charcuterie pâtissière, or charcuterie in pastry, using techniques and knowhow combining textures, flavours and disciplines.
Chef Fabian Feldmann received a Michelin star ten months after opening L'Impertinent in Biarritz in 2012. Born in Nuremberg (Germany), Feldmann spent time at some of Europe's leading restaurants, where he trained with chefs including Michel Trama, the Raimbault brothers, and Pierre Gagnaire, among others. Feldmann's cuisine is based on the balance of ingredients, regional products and modern techniques.
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