SIFF presents...
SIFF: Kakehashi – Portrait of Chef Nobuo Fukuda
- Friday, June 2, 2017 – 4:30PM
- Adult: $14.00
- Senior: $13.00
- Prime: $12.00
Description
Japan | 2017 | 46 minutes | Andrew Gooi
Rising from his job as an immigrant dishwasher at Benihana to a James Beard Award-winning chef, Nobuo Fukuda’s inspiring culinary journey was made possible by embracing kakehashi, the act of bridging the gap between his native Japanese cuisine and Western cooking.
Andrew Gooi’s Kakehashi is far from your typical culinary documentary. Sure, all the food is sumptuously photographed and the philosophies of various dining experiences and cultural practices are examined vis-à-vis the dinner table―yet it is the focus of the film, 2007 James Beard Award Winner Nobuo Fukuda, that elevates Gooi’s documentary to so much more. A chef whose charm is as irresistible as his brilliant recipes, Fukuda traverses the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Gooi in tow, and reminisces about the moments that have filled his life as full as his plates. A chef for 30 years in Arizona, Fukuda grows from a roughhouse-loving Benihana chef to the cultural bridge―or kakehashi―that he has become today. Utilizing the four courses of his famed Teeter House restaurant (Hassun, Sashimi Spoons, Guinea Fowl, and Shabu Shabu) as both eye candy and personal metaphors, the link between food and life has rarely been clearer. Though small and simple, both Gooi’s masterful food documentary and Fukuda’s dishes are every bit as powerful as their grandest predecessors.
Director Biography: Andrew Gooi is a Malaysian-born, U.S.-based filmmaker. Moved by the stories around him, this became the catalyst that inspired him to begin capturing not only dishes, but also the stories of the people behind them. Andrew created Food Talkies in 2016 to share food films he captured and in 2017 Food Talkies was nominated for the James Beard Awards for ‘Visual & Technical Excellence’ and for ‘Video Webcast: On Location’.
Artist Bio
SIFF’s mission is to create experiences that bring people together to discover extraordinary films from around the world. It is through the art of cinema that we foster a community that is more informed, aware, and alive.
