Pickles are among the foods being distributed at the Charleston outlet of this year’s Food Film Festival.What could be better than watching succulent images of food on large movie screens? How about tasting that same food as you watch? High-concept film events are always a treat, and the Food Film Festival might be one even more so, thanks to the efforts of founders Harry Hawk and George Motz.
Now in its sixth year, this event combines the joys of watching food with those of eating it and spans three cities: New York (where it originated), Chicago, and Charleston, South Carolina. But it’s not just a chance for attendees to take in the sights and smells: it also functions as a chance for entrants to attempt to win awards for their films, in feature, short and “super short” categories. The Charleston event is the earliest, happening as it does on May 10 and 11, with the other cities to see their own slices of the festival in the fall. Within that event there is the “Hot Southern Shorts” series, that feature shorts that allegedly highlight the creation and sale of pickles and sweet potato pie, among other things—with relevant items available for consumption.
In a piece on the festival in the New York Times, Motz emphasized the simple focus of the films exhibited at this particular festival.
“What we do is we celebrate food, and those who make it,” he said. “We skip the bad parts.”
One of the benefits of inflatable screens is their ability to encourage creative events like this. Combining a screening with another type of activity is an increasingly popular approach that planning committees might take it upon themselves to consider.