EATING and DRINKING FILMS & MORE From THE SEATTLE FILM FESTIVAL

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By Vince Keenan

The 51st Seattle International Film Festival drew to a close on May 25, with a selection of entries available via streaming through June 1. At this year’s fest, I paid particular attention to nonfiction titles spotlighting the troika of subjects that matter most to EatDrinkFilms readers. Let’s begin with a libation.

Wine has its sommeliers, beer its cicerones. As the craft cocktail revolution took hold in the aughts, six authorities on spirits launched a program that would provide similar certification to bartenders. Continue reading →

Charlie Was My Co-Pilot- Celebrating Chaplin Days

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By Gary Meyer. (May 13, 2025)

“A day without laughter is a day wasted” -Charlie Chaplin

I can’t imagine a more wonderful spring weekend than the Charlie Chaplin Days in Niles (Fremont), California, May 16-18. Starting with a tour of Eugene O’Neill’s house where Chaplin’s wife Oona grew up, the celebration includes plenty of restored Chaplin films made by the Essanay Studio on the big screen  with audiences laughing uncontrollably at times. There are live presentations, rare footage and photos seen for the first time since they were made, walking tours, rides on a vintage diesel train, and the annual Charlie Look-Alike Contest. Continue reading →

Women Scientists Fascinated By Bats

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A Profile of Filmmaker Kristin Tièche

By Noma Faingold.  (May 1, 2025)

Kristen Tièche walks into Le Café du Soleil, a French bistro in the Lower Haight, with unremarkable décor, clutching her little black mixed-breed dog, Zizou. She rode her bike from her Inner Richmond home. It’s mid-afternoon. As she places a glass of white wine, accompanied by a glass of water, at a window table, she mentions that her day is tighter than she realized, having already spent time at a volunteer garden, followed by a shower. “I have people coming over to my place at 5:30,” she said.

Kristen Tièche – Photo by Noma Faingold

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Isaac Julien Dreams A World

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By Noma Faingold (April 16, 2025)

Watching the 28-minute, 10-screen film/art installation, “Lessons of the Hour,” by British artist/filmmaker Sir Isaac Julien, isn’t as overwhelming as one might think. In fact, the flood of images, sounds and words, dedicated to the life of writer, orator, philosopher, and social justice activist Fredrick Douglass (1818-1895), a former slave, allows the viewer to absorb and interpret the immersive experience in their own way.

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Barbarella Gives a Physical-According to AI

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By Gary Meyer and his AI bestie  (April 15, 2025)

When I read that (not my) POTUS was getting his physical from a Dr. Barbabella I misread it as the French satirical science fiction comic strip heroine created by Jean-Claude Forest and subsequent popular movie starring Jane Fonda, “Barbarella.”  I wondered what ChatGBT could do with that. You will note in the comic strip balloons there are misspelled words and the bottom panels are partially cut off sometimes. ChatGBT  wants to be sassy and hip in its responses.

I asked for : “BARBARELLA as a doctor treating Donald Trump.”

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Cake Happens in San Francisco

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“CAKE PICNIC™ was born out of a simple desire to eat a lot of cake. And be surrounded by friends,” writes founder Elisa Sunga. “It is a gathering for the love of cake. It celebrates cake in all of its forms — chiffon cakes, upside down cakes, Princess cakes, Russian honey cakes, meringue cakes, jello cakes, trifles, multi-tiered cakes, sponge cakes, butter cakes, and more. Continue reading →