An annual film festival held in the historic city of Bologna, northern Italy, Slow Food on Film showcases movies dedicated to food and food culture. Screening a mix of feature and short films, documentaries and television series, it offers five days of visual treats for anyone with an interest in gastronomy.
The festival has its base at Cinema Lumière to the northwest of the city centre, where the majority of screenings take place. However ‘Film on a Plate’, a section of the festival that combines four evenings of movies with a themed dish, is held at nearby Cinema Arlecchino in Bologna’s striking Museum of Modern Art.
The other major sections of the festival are dedicated to competitions, with awards presented in several categories. These include the best food feature, the best documentary, the best fictional or animated short, told in an irreverent or unorthodox style, and the television series (fiction or non-fiction) that stood out from the glut of food programs shown on the small screen. The award in each section is a Golden Snail, the symbol of the Slow Food movement, and in most cases a cash sum ranging from €2,000 to €5,000 (approximately $2,800 to $7,000).
What Is Slow Food?
Now in its second year, the film festival is supported by the Bolognese branch of Slow Food. Slow Food was founded by the Italian journalist Carlo Petrini in 1989 as a reaction to the growing trend for fast food. It is a non-profit, member-supported organization that strives to counteract the disappearance of local gastronomic diversity and food traditions, often caused by large-scale agricultural methods and the globalization of the food industry.
It also aims to stimulate people’s interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it is produced and by whom. While the movement has serious intentions, its ultimate aim is to promote the pleasure of eating and the enjoyment of good food.
Slow Food Off-screen
An important aspect of Slow Food on Film is not just watching food on screen, but also being able to sample it off-screen. For the duration of the festival the area in front of Cinema Lumière is turned into a ‘slow street food’ market selling artisanal snacks and light meals. A small outdoors farmers’ market also sells products such as homemade preserves, breads, cheeses and salamis.
For more information about future events, visit the film festival’s website. Or for a review of Bottle Shock, an engaging movie about wine, starring Bill Pullman and Alan Rickman, which had its Italian premiere at Slow Food on Film, click here.
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