Harvest: Food On Film

August is a virtual film feast at GOMA, with the world’s best food-themed films screening for free at Harvest: Food on Film. Here’s 10 of the best:

Le Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie ) 1972, M

Widely considered a masterpiece, Luis Buñel’s film mercilessly lampoons six respectable wealthy people who sit down to dinner and have their plans for a pleasant meal continually interrupted by increasingly surreal dreamlike events.  Aug 13 6pm

Ashani Sanket (Distant Thunder) 1973, PG

This rare Indian film by writer/director Satyajit Ray explores the breaking down of social order and the population’s desperation because of severe hunger, thanks to weather events and import restrictions during WWII, which eventually caused the Bengal famine of 1943. Aug 8 6pm Aug 10 1pm

La Grande Bouffe 1973, R18+

Marco Ferreri’s bad-taste comedy of obscene excess earned massive controversy, with the unsettling story of four decadent men (including the wonderful Marcello Mastroianni) going away for a weekend, hiring three prostitutes to join the fun, then methodically eating themselves to death. Aug 29 6pm

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover 1989, R18+

An unforgettable and disturbing film from Peter Greenaway in his prime sees Michael Gambon as a thief presiding over a restaurant and his beaten down wife (Helen Mirren), and where lust, cruelty, gluttony and revenge play out in ‘part black comedy, Jacobean tragedy and political satire’. Aug 15, 20 6pm

Mùi đu đu Xanh (The Scent of Green Papaya) 1993, G

A favourite of cinema lovers when it was released, this meditative, award-winning French-Vietnamese film from Tran Anh Hung (with both French and English subtitles), tells of Mui, who goes from being a live-in servant girl for a grieving mother to working in another household where she and a handsome pianist start to have feelings for each other. Aug 22 6pm Aug 24 3pm

Big Night 1996, M

This celebratory film starring Stanley Tucci (who co-directed with Campbell Scott), Tony Shalhoub, Minnie Driver and Isabella Rossellini, sees two Italian immigrant brothers in 1950s New Jersey cooking up a make-or-break mouthwatering feast for a famous musician coming to their restaurant. Aug 6 6pm

Darwin’s Nightmare 2004, M

An eye-opening documentary from Hubert Sauper, Darwin’s Nightmare looks at the catastrophic consequences of introducing Nile Perch into Lake Victoria, which has led to native fish species being wiped out, and the local population starving while the fish are exported to lucrative overseas markets.  Aug 31 1pm

Waitress 2007, M

This humorous, heartwarming film written and directed by actress, Adrienne Shelly (who was tragically murdered not long after it was released), stars Keri Russell as a woman escaping her unsatisfactory life by escaping into a world of pie making and eventually finding love in an unexpected place.   Aug 27 6pm

Pressure Cooker 2008 Ages 18+

A feel-good documentary about a group of students from low-income backgrounds at a Philadelphia high school who take cooking lessons from the intimidating but compassionate Wilma Stephenson, who helps them prepare for a culinary competition. Aug 23 1pm

Entre Les Bras (Step Up to the Plate) 2012, G

This subtle, reflective documentary seen through the prism of the four seasons explores the transition of a Michelin-recognised restaurant in the L’Aubrac region of France from owner and acclaimed chef, Michel Bras, to his son Sébastien. Aug 24 1pm

by Vicki Englund