Given the title of this article, I bet you thought I was going to say the documentary Breaking Bread left me feeling dissatisfied. You’d be correct – kind of. After watching the preview screening of the film, which opens in Denver at Chez Artiste on February 18, 2022, I do want more – at the very least, I want to eat absolutely everything they were making in the film. But more than that, I want people of all religions, and political/societal/cultural/personal beliefs to see this movie and realize to how many different aspects of our lives it relates to. It’s far more than just a movie about a food festival.
Okay, on the surface, it IS a movie about a food festival – the first one held in which Arab and Jewish chefs collaborate to create dishes with the purpose of fostering social change and nurturing more than bodies. The movie, and the festival, happens in the city of Haifa, where a variety of cultures co-exist. The A-Sham Arabic Food Festival is founded by microbiologist Dr. Nof Atamna-Ismaeel, the first Israeli-Arab to win Israel’s reality show MasterChef. She is the anchor of the movie.
Arab and Jewish chefs pair up to create dishes that call on culinary traditions and ingredients passed down from generations. They work in each other’s kitchens, learning new things, sharing tips, looking past their differences to all that is similar between them. It’s a beautiful metaphor for the concept of seeing past pre-conceived notions. As one of the chefs points out, they feel further away from each other than they really are – when they are in close contact, communicating, they can begin to understand each other. It’s in the physical and emotional distance that misunderstandings and misinformation grow.
The participating chefs believe that unifying over food can be the first step towards understanding and peace. If they can encourage positive communication and collaboration between themselves, and feed people from their combined culinary efforts, then positive and peaceful feelings start to spread.
In addition to being left wanting more of this positivity, as a viewer, I was also so encouraged to see chefs collaborating (which happens a lot in the Colorado food and beverage world, which is wonderful). And, of course, I wanted to take a lingering look at every dish they prepared in Breaking Bread. It was all so beautiful! So many vegetables, garbanzo beans, meats, oils, breads all creating vivid colors and textures.
The simplicity of seeing hummus being made was enough to make me want to get up off the couch and serve some up with warm pita bread for a mid-movie snack. I grew up eating Middle Eastern food and it’s exquisite, delicious, and healthy. This movie, which is written and directed by Beth Elise Hawk, just confirmed my love for the cuisine and my hope for more people like this, more activities like this, and more movies like this. It’s a start on the path to very good things in this world, one bite at a time.
– Photos provided by Breaking Bread. A screener link was provided to us in advance of the film’s release in Denver to facilitate our review. As is always our policy, this does not influence our opinions, which are our own, honest and true.
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