Tag Archives: Documentary

02.05.25
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Free to View! God of Ramen, A Documentary on YFF Theatre

God of Ramen Movie PosterStreaming period [JST] 2025/02/01 11:00:00 – 2025/05/01 11:00:00

You can now stream the beautiful documentary about The God of Ramen online at YFF Theatre. This free streaming service has been available for nearly a decade now, and it helps popularize Japanese films and videos around the world. The Japan Foundation is funding this service, and it’s a great place to check out fond favourites, like this foodie staple.

After Come Back Anytime, I had to wonder what other documentaries exist about renowned ramen chefs. When the craving hits, and I need something more to warm my soul. I’m not out to look for how to recreate recipes at home. Instead, I was hoping for insight about why Taishoken ramen is better than others. When this dish is comfort food for the masses, and only a handful of people know how to elevate it to ambrosia like levels. 

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04.08.24
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Food, Inc. 2, The Sequel Everybody Must See. A Documentary Review

Food, Inc. 2 Movie PosterComing soon to select theatres and on VOD beginning April 12, 2024

According to US Senate Corey Booker of New Jersey, America’s food system is savagely broken. In the well-meaning documentary, FOOD, INC. 2, viewers are looking at how the industry has changed when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, what’s still wrong with it and how it’s affected the global distribution chain. It’s a loose sequel to the original, simply titled FOOD, INC. made 15 years ago.

While the last film by Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo was about the industrialised nature of America’s food supply by saying monopoly is bad, there’s more being explored in this latest release. What’s examined shows Booker and Jon Tester as the most vocal U.S. Senators who want to save more than just the American heartland. And at the same time, we see problems. At some farms, migrant workers are mistreated, and some are even underpaid! Another concern asks whether shipping food from one corner of the world to another is really needed. There are a lot of issues being explored, and this work could be made better by having intertitle cards to separate each issue out. Not everything is related.

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11.08.23
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The Lebanese Burger Mafia, A Movie Review

The Lebanese Burger Mafia PosterTheatrical Release Date:
November 10, 2023

Who doesn’t love a good burger? When there are tons of franchise chains operating out of North America, much less the world, there are tons to choose from. As for locally owned and operated, there’s only a handful. Some made the transition to being a recognised brand worldwide and others forgotten. For one filmmaker who says he’s the heir to the Burger Baron franchise, the big question is will he have full rights to this name? And that’s led Omar Mouallem to explore this operation’s history in his excellent documentary, The Lebanese Burger Mafia.

Here, he not only looks at the chain’s early days from being a one off fast food operation that has grown beyond its britches. It was born under the entrepreneurship of Jack McDonnell coming to Canada in the hopes of building a new enterprise to rival that of McDonald’s. To expand the operation, he hired relatives to run the many diners across the country, but when he didn’t have any more to depend on, it became a franchise. But pretty soon, that operation collapsed under the weight of growing too fast, and some years later, Rudy Kemaldean “saved it.”

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10.28.22
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There’s More Than Mushrooms “Up on the Mountain,” A Documentary Review

mountaiunPlaying at Devour! Food Film Festival on Oct 29, 11:00am

Al Whittle Theatre
450 Main St, Wolfville, NS

Olivier Matthon‘s fly on the wall approach to looking at the problems “commercial” mushroom pickers have in Up on the Mountain is very eye-opening. While we as consumers love chanterelles, morels and lion’s mane, we don’t know the story behind how it got to the dinner table, be it in a restaurant or home-made. 

In British Columbia, those mycelium grown in farms most likely follow strict guidelines in terms of when they’re food ready. But to get them from the lands, the Crown posted guidelines for those wanting to pick and sell. But to be a watchdog is impossible; I suspect the issues are the same as it is Stateside. That is, there’s not enough staff in the Forestry department to go around. With this documentary, we follow in the footsteps of three groups who travel on the “mushroom circuit,” and have to fend for themselves against other poachers and local enforcement.

In the official synopsis, “[They travel embark on] a year-round migration that can take them anywhere from Alaska to California, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming—to harvest wild mushrooms from public forests.

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10.19.22
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Blind Ambition, South Africa and Wine-Tasting, A Formula for How to Succeed

blind ambit

Robert Coe and Warwick Ross have developed a documentary that not only looks at the situation faced by many in South Africa concerning black immigration to other nations within this continent, but also shows “Blind Ambition” should set no one back.

Here, it’s about whether four Zimbabwean immigrants can succeed as business people in a very demanding restaurant industry. Here, the focus is on wine. And what Joseph, Tinashe, Pardon, and Marlvin have to learn is if they got the right stuff. They want to enter the 2017 World Blind Wine Tasting Championship and because of the economic situation, they had huge obstacles to face if they were to fly to Burgundy, France, where it was being hosted.

This film focuses on four individuals wanting a better prospect for not only themselves, but the family they’re taking along. What they left behind is important, and the examination is more than dutiful to let us understand what goes on a world away. Back home in Zimbabwe was civil unrest, and unless we understand this social-policital background tableau, what viewers won’t learn aren’t as relatable.

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02.02.22
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Why Breaking Bread Matters and Where to Find this Documentary

Breaking Bread (2022) | Fandango Breaking Bread goes beyond simply showing how this food product can be delicately designed. There’s many ways to make it, bake it and serve it. What’s presented is more than an attack on the taste buds. To know what it represents to bring peace along the Gaza Strip is at the core of this work by filmmaker Beth Elise Hawk. Her film is excellent at highlighting how this part of the world operates because it shows not everyone is an extremist. They’re just business and everyday people too.

This work carefully looks at the life and times of many restaurateurs of different local nationalities and cuisine. In terms of how many operations were profiled, I lost track after counting at least twelve. 

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