A take on the work process and creativity at the Mugaritz restaurant from filmmaker Paco Plaza and the experience of a famous Japanese chef in a Paris restaurant, two non-fictions on northern Japan’s foodie culture and what it means to age cheese, plus the eagerly-awaited second instalment of Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s El hoyo / The Platform feature on the Culinary Zinema section menu at San Sebastian Festival’s 72nd edition. The first four movies will compete for the Culinary Zinema Award, coming with 10,000 euros for the winning film, while El hoyo 2 / The Platform 2 will close the section out of competition.  

Culinary Zinema, which also comes with 5 themed dinners connected to the screenings, was presented this morning at Tabakalera’s LABe Digital Gastronomy Lab by the Director of the Basque Culinary Center, Jose Mari Aizega and the San Sebastian Festival Director, José Luis Rebordinos.

Mugaritz. Sin pan ni postre will open the section on Monday 23rd at the Victoria Eugenia Theatre. The proposal from Paco Plaza (Valencia, 1973), the director of Verónica (Made in Spain 2017) and La abuela / The Grandmother (Official Selection 2021), stretches beyond the field of gastronomy. The spectator will become the exceptional witness of the reinvention process taking place at the restaurant run by Andoni Luis Aduriz, one of the most creative and influential chefs in the international scene.

Moviemaker Ayuko Tsukahara (Saitama, 1974) tells, in Grand Maison Paris, the tale of a Japanese chef, lover of French cuisine, who opens a restaurant in the City of Light and suffers to land his third Michelin star. The dishes appearing in the film have been designed by Kei Kobayashi, the first Japanese chef to bag three Michelin stars in Paris.

Tetsuya Uesugi (Sapporo, 1983) makes his feature debut with Kita no syokukei / Northern Food Story, following the everyday life of four chefs who work to produce northern Japan’s rich gastronomic culture, particularly from the island of Hokkaido and its community.  

Following its selection for the documentary section of the Tribeca Festival, Shelf Life will compete for the Culinary Zinema Award. Director Ian Cheney (Boston, 1980) starts from an unusual premise: might spending time among people who age cheese yield insights about what it's like for us humans to grow old? Cheney brings a peculiar take on cheese, on a route through several countries of the world, to confirm the importance of this legendary product.

After the global success of its first part, Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia (Abadiño, 1974) directs El hoyo 2 / The Platform 2, starring Milena Smit and Hovik Keuchkerian, closing film of the section out of competition. In this new instalment, as a mysterious leader gradually imposes his law in The Platform, a new female inmate takes up arms in the battle against this controversial method of waging war against the brutal food system.

Themed dinners

The five films in the section will be accompanied by themed dinners taking place from 23-27 September at the Basque Culinary Center. Combined tickets for the screenings and dinners will go on sale on 30 August at 10:00 on the websites of the Festival and Kutxabank. Combined tickets for the screening and dinner will have a price of 80 euros, except in the case of El hoyo 2, which will be served as a cocktail invoking the aesthetic and experience of El hoyo I The Platform and its iconic platform; the dinner will have seating for 130 people and will cost 65 euros.

The Culinary Zinema themed dinners will kick off on September 23rd following screening of the documentary Mugaritz. Sin pan ni postre, with a gastronomic experience bringing diners closer to the creative universe of the Mugaritz thanks to different dishes, impressions and professionals to have visited the restaurant and who are now leading important projects at a national level: Miguel Caño (Nublo), Juan Vargas (Muka), Alatz Bilbao (Bakea), Fran Baixas (Franca) and Carlos Salvador (Amaica).The Mugaritz team, which will use products from the vegetable garden of Leire Etxaide, who was part of the house and who coordinates the BCC Vegetable Garden project, will cook in the Basque Culinary Center's kitchens to prepare a menu that will pay homage to the cuisine of the two-Michelin-starred restaurant that invites you to open your mind and not just your mouth. Diners will also have the opportunity to enjoy a pairing matched to the gastronomic experience, thanks to the collaboration of experts from the liquid world who have also been a part of the Mugaritz, such as Dani Lasa (AMA Brewery).

The dinner on 24 September will be hosted by Paulo Airaudo, who faces the challenge of the search for excellence in his different projects around the world. The Argentinean chef will offer the opportunity to taste some of the preparations of his different gastronomic proposals, Amelia (two Michelin stars), Da Filippo and Ibai, among others, with which he has conquered the palates of lovers of haute cuisine in different corners of the planet. 

The experience on 25 September will bring attendees closer to the rich and delicate Japanese gastronomy, offering the possibility of tasting the preparations of two chefs such as Takeshi Takahashi (Le Santé) and Hiroshi Sakai (Ajidokoro), protagonists of Kita no syokukei / Northern Food Story.

As it does in the film Shelf Life, cheese will play the unquestionable lead part in the fourth dinner (September 26) which, from a more local point of view, will highlight not only the wealth and diversity of this product, but also its cultural roots and importance as an iconic product of the territory thanks to the work and dedication of chefs from the Mahaia Kolektiboa, such as Roberto Ruiz (HIKA), Dani López (Kokotxa), or Javi Rivero and Gorka Rico (AMA).

When eating off the wrong plate becomes a death sentence, just how far would you be prepared to go to save your life? Young talents from the world of gastronomy will bring the universe of El Hoyo 2 / The Platform 2 to life thanks to chef Edorta Lamo (Arrea!) and his furtive philosophy. With a mise-en-scène inspired by the film, Culinary Zinema’s last dinner (September 27) will start with a cocktail served by Aitor Sua and Lucas Fernández (Trèsde Restaurante), and the creations of Jorge Sastre and Rafa Panatieri (Sartoria), all imbued with the disruptive philosophy of Lamo.

With the exception of the cocktail accompanying the closing film, in the other cases Culinary Zinema will follow in its regular seating plan of ten diners per table to encourage discussions for a richer experience. Teachers and students from the Basque Culinary Centre will participate in all of the dinners both in the dining room itself and in the kitchen.

Tickets for the films alone will go on sale on September 15th at a price of 8.75 euros.