Meet the Makers - SBIFF

2014 FILM FEAST PARTICIPANTSAlchemy Center Spa Wellness Café • Andersen’s Danish Bakery and Restaurant • Arlington Tavern

Au Bon Climat • Bacara Resort & Spa • Best Western PLUS Encina Lodge & SuitesBest Western PLUS Pepper Tree Inn • Bistro 1111 at Hyatt Santa Barbara • Blue Agave

Blush Restaurant and Lounge • Brasil Arts Café • Brisas del Mar, Inn at the Beach • Ca’DarioConway Family Wines - Deep Sea Tasting Room • Crocodile Café at the Lemon Tree • Cutler’s • Downey’s

The Eagle Inn • El Encanto • Enterprise Fish Co. • The Fess Parker: A DoubleTree Resort by HiltonFinch & Fork • Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara • Grassini Family Vineyards

Hotel Indigo Santa Barbara • Hotel Santa Barbara • Inn by the Harbor • Julienne • Kotuku Elixir BarLa Arcada Bistro • The Lark • Lavender Inn by the Sea • Lemon Tree Inn

Les Marchands Wine Bar & Merchant • Margerum Wine Company • Municipal WinemakersNardonne’s La Famiglia Pizzeria • Olio e Limone Ristorante • Opal Restaurant & Bar

The Palace Grill • Paradise Café • Pascucci • Ramada Limited Santa BarbaraSandbar Mexican Restaurant & Tequila Bar • Santa Barbara Winery • Savoy Café & DeliScarlett Begonia • Secret Garden Inn and Cottages • State & Fig • Seven Bar & Kitchen

Ty Lounge at Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara • The Upham Hotel & Country House

SPONSORED BY

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ISSUE #3 • JANUARY 30, 2014

independent.com presents

MEET THE MAKERSINTERVIEWS WITH SBIFF FILMMAKERS

LODGING DEALS AND PRIX FIXE MENUS FROM MORE THAN 50

SANTA BARBARA BUSINESSES! Film Feast, Santa Barbara’s unique take on Restaurant Week, will again be luring diners’ taste buds to one of the 36 restaurants and tasting rooms offering up innovative menus using the theme “Made in Santa Barbara.” With so many great options to choose from, festivalgoers can extend their stay on The American Riviera® by booking one of the 16 Film Feast–inspired hotel packages. For more information, go to www.SBFilmFeast.com.

SCREEN CUISINE 2014

independent.com/sbiff for longer interviews and daily fest coverage

Coming in the wake of last year’s oenophile-fave � ick A Year in Burgundy, this one

focuses on the world’s home of sparkling wine, painting a fun and e� ervescent portrait of the people, places, and processes behind bubbly.

AS YOU SHOW, CHAMPAGNE IS DOMINATED BY BIG PRODUCERS. ARE THE SMALLER PRODUCERS MAKING A COMEBACK?� ere has been an artisanal revolution in Champagne in the last 10-plus years. Many families have stopped selling their grapes to the big producers and have set up on their own. Not all their product is good, but the e� ect on the big guys has been to make them buy up more and more small producers, just to get their vines. � e four small artisanal family wineries we feature have been established more than 50 years and produce the very top-quality wine. � ey have time to really concentrate on their vineyards, which makes the process more intimate and the result often more remarkable.

DID YOU RUN INTO ANY BACKLASH FROM THE BIG CHAMPAGNE MAKERS IN PRODUCING THIS FILM?I don’t think the big guys even knew we were � lming during the many visits we were there.

We simply didn’t want to be involved with their industrial methods of production and their huge PR machines. Bollinger is an important player in Champagne (hugely prestigious) and so is Gosset, but they’re medium sized and have kept the personal touch.

DID YOU PRODUCE THIS AT THE SAME TIME AS YOU DID A YEAR IN BURGUNDY?No. We � lmed Burgundy in 2011 and edited it in 2012. We � lmed Champagne in 2012 and edited it in 2013.

THE PACING AND STRUCTURE REMINDS ME OF A NEW YORKER STORY, TOLD ELOQUENTLY BUT IN A LEISURELY WAY. HOW DID YOU DECIDE ON THAT STYLE OF PRESENTATION?� ank you. I treat that as a compliment. I decided to tell the story of wine the same way that good wine is made: You take your time, you try to get subtlety into the blend, you give the viewer time to get to know the people involved — even their dogs! Bouchon the terrier is one of the stars of the movie; sun or rain, he’s out in the � elds with his master.

THIS FILM FEELS MORE “FUN” THAN THE BURGUNDY FILM, WHICH WAS GREAT BUT ALSO VERY TECHNICAL. WHY IS THAT?� at’s an interesting observation. We were all concerned that (because of the weather, at least) it would seem more gloomy. But I think we have

independent.com presents MEET THE MAKERS

A YEAR IN CHAMPAGNEDavid Kennard

WORLD PREMIERE

a much wider range of emotions here, from the grim trenches of World War I to the out-and-out fun of parties and balloon rides: more laughs, perhaps.

I think you’ll � nd there’s technical information woven in here: Explaining how Champagne is made is much harder than explaining how Burgundy is made. But perhaps we’ve integrated it better and used the music better, so you hardly realize you’re getting educated as well as entertained! We want these � lms to have a 20-plus-year shelf life, so that’s important to us.

I NOTICED THAT THE GLASSWARE USED IN FRANCE IS NOT THE AMERICAN FLUTED VARIETY. WHY DO WE INSIST ON FLUTES? Flutes, of course, concentrate the bubbles and direct them straight up the nose, to get that initial tingle before you even taste the stu� ! � e French do use � utes, but the people who make champagne are more down-to-earth and are quite happy to use any old wineglass that is available!

� e history of wineglass shapes is also largely tied up with fashion, as it has changed over the years. Who knows what will be in vogue in the future?

THOUGH IT OFTEN SEEMS LIKE A VERY ELITE REGION, THE PEOPLE OF CHAMPAGNE SEEMED VERY APPROACHABLE AND DOWN-TO-EARTH. IS THAT WHAT YOU FOUND?Champagne really isn’t an elite region, though the PR departments of the biggest companies might like you to think so. � e people are very down-to-earth: � e weather is often dreadful, they’ve been invaded many times, other people have stolen their inventions and imitated their

wine; they can be downright grouchy, indeed! But once you get to know them (which is the great advantage of � lming a documentary over a whole year), you become one of the family and discover their warmth and love of fun.

DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE WINE DOCS IN THE WORKS?One more: A Year in Port, � lmed in 2013 in Portugal’s Douro Valley and the ancient city of Porto. � is � lm, which we’ll start to edit after SBIFF, will perhaps be the most fun and the most extraordinary � lm of the trilogy, but we’ll have to see what the critics think.

—Matt Kettmann

SAT 2/1–7:20PM & TUE 2/4–10:20PM, METRO 4SUN 2/2–11AM , LOBERO


Part food movie, part human interest story, part political doc, Dog Days focuses on Coite,

a recently laid-o� average white guy who sets out to overhaul the problematic street vending monopoly in his home of Washington, D.C. Along the way, Coite meets Siyone, a single mom and former refugee from Eritrea, who has been selling hot dogs curbside in our nation’s capital for upwards of 20 years. Together, the pair form a bond over business, personal struggles, and an admirable desire to defend the greater good.

HOW DID YOU GUYS FIRST COME TO MEET COITE?Coite was a personal friend who, honestly, had never crossed my mind as a main character for a documentary. However, one night he came over for dinner and somewhat sheepishly confessed that he’d gotten � red from his job and wasn’t sure what to do next. � is was in the midst of the economic collapse of 2009, when millions of people were losing their jobs. Coite’s � rst impulse, though, wasn’t to clamor for the � rst job he could � nd. He began explaining his dream of starting a small business that would help traditional, largely immigrant, hot dog vendors on the streets of D.C. to make their own failing businesses more competitive against the rising popularity of food trucks.

WHEN DID YOU DECIDE TO START FILMING?During our dinner, Coite also explained the myriad, insane obstacles to street carts thriving in D.C., from hostile government regulations to an underground monopoly controlling what the cart owners were purchasing. We felt there

was a real story in this microcosm of American entrepreneurship playing out under the noses of so many D.C. politicians preaching job creation and economic revival. It had all the elements of a good � lm: high stakes, true “underdog” characters, and an untold story. We spent the next four years, o� and on, � lming our characters to see how their dreams would turn out.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE PEOPLE TAKE AWAY? With millions of people still unemployed, and many small business owners facing unnecessary government regulations, we think Dog Days will speak for a large swath of people wondering if the American Dream is worth pursuing.

—Aly Comingore


DOG DAYSLaura Waters Hinson

TUE 2/4–11AM & FRI 2/7–7PM, METRO 4

Foodies around the world hold Spanish cuisine on a pedestal, and it’s no wonder why: � e

country is home to some of the best restaurants, chefs, wines, and preparations in the culinary lexicon. In Aritz Galarza’s latest doc, the food-centric � lmmaker explores Biscayne sauce (so named for his hometown of Bizkaina) and the deep-seeded meaning it has for both the Basque country and Spanish cooking at large.

WHAT SPARKED YOUR INTEREST IN BISCAYNE SAUCE?Celebrations in Bizkaina are directly in contact with food and especially with some traditional recipes. For example, on Christmas Eve it is very common to eat snails with Biscayne sauce, one of my favorite preparations with Bizkaina. � is makes this sauce very special for Basque families. [And then there’s] the mystery of why a sauce takes the name of a region. � e last one was good enough reason to a start a documentary, in my opinion.

SPAIN’S CULINARY TRADITIONS ARE WORLD FAMOUS. WHAT IS IT ABOUT BASQUE FOOD THAT MAKES IT SO SPECIAL?I think that Basque gastronomy has a lot of particularities that makes it unique in the world, and this could be because of Basque country’s

geography. We have a privileged location that provides us the best products from the sea, the best meat from the farms, and also the best vegetables of the countryside. Having all of this high-quality product has caused the region to develop a particular culture of respect for the product. We’re always looking to the most fresh sensations in the way of cooking them, and trying to show the purest � avor without disturbing the dinner guest.

For example, the way we cook � sh is closer to the Japanese way of working with it than some other cookeries. We could say that we warm up the � sh more than cooking it. We like it almost crude. � is is cultural, and this is because we have always had fresh � sh at our tables.

WHY DO YOU THINK FOOD AND COOKING MAKES COMPELLING ENTERTAINMENT?I think that food and cooking, like many other cultural facets, are interesting for many audiences. Cooking has an interactive [element] that many other subjects don’t: taste. � is puts the spectator in a starring role. Another reason could be that food is a thing everybody deals with, a daily necessity everyone has. Each of us has our favorite and most hated dishes, and this builds a particular opinion of the subject and makes it interesting.

—Aly Comingore

A LA BIZKAINAAritz Galarza

SAT 2/8–7PM, SB MUSEUM OF ART & SUN 2/9–2PM, METRO 4


US PREMIERE


Could a regional love of hummus be the recipe for peace in the Middle East? � at’s

the question posed here, as cameras traverse the Middle East in the hopes of uncovering the true lineage of the region’s most recognizable dip. In the process, they discover the people, places, and stories behind the food — and begin to digest the impact eating can have on a community.

WAS THERE A DEFINITIVE AHA MOMENT THAT LED YOU TO PICKING UP A CAMERA?� e aha moment was when I discovered in 2009 that Lebanon was contemplating suing Israel in an international court because the Lebanese considered the Israelis to have stolen their food by marketing hummus internationally as an Israeli food product. In Lebanon, this is no laughing matter. So here was yet another Middle East con� ict, but this time in the kitchen.

WHAT SURPRISED YOU MOST? How passionately people on all sides of this culinary con� ict passionately adore their hummus. How good the hummus was in many parts of Israel, because it’s made mostly by Palestinians. But the largest surprise was that everywhere you go in Lebanon, people of all makes and classes love their hummus, and it is excellent. One small humble café in Beirut

attracted politicians, taxi drivers, and opera singers, rich and poor, simply because the hummus was so good. Hummus crosses the social divide.

WHAT’S YOUR HOPE FOR THE FILM? I have this crazy idea: Could a regional love of hummus be the recipe for peace in the Middle East? It’s wacky, but that was the starting point for this � lm’s delicious hummus journey.

FINALLY, HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR HUMMUS?I make my hummus with lots of garlic and freshly ground black pepper. So I like my hummus peppery and spicy.

—Aly Comingore

MAKE HUMMUS NOT WARTrevor Graham

FRI 1/31–1PM, SAT 2/1–10PM & MON 2/3–10PM, METRO 4

In 1891, a Dublin, Texas, company became the � rst to bottle Dr. Pepper, and the tradition —

including the use of pure cane sugar, when the rest of the bottlers turned to high fructose corn syrup — continued until 2012, when the Dr. Pepper-Snapple corporation sued to shut them down. � at nearly killed the town of Dublin and o� ended the whole Lone Star State, whose ongoing rage over soda pop is served up in this compelling � lm.

WERE YOU A DUBLIN DR. PEPPER FAN?I was indeed. A good friend of mine who inspired Bottled Up was a huge fan of Dublin Dr. Pepper, and we made road trips there all the time. Dublin, TX, is a little over two hours southwest of Dallas and, although not as breathtaking as your beautiful coastline, the hills of Central Texas are great and make for a really fun day trip.

WERE YOU SURPRISED HOW MUCH EMOTION WAS WRAPPED AROUND A SODA?I asked that question to almost everyone we interviewed! To the level that a person assaulted our cameraman during � lming? Yes, I am surprised. But anything that takes you back to your nostalgic past, particularly one that you can smell and taste like a Dublin Dr. Pepper, then I’m not surprised at all. Especially when you tell those people they can never have it again....

HOW IS DUBLIN BOTTLING WORKS DOING NOW?� ey have almost a dozen new soft drinks. Seems like everywhere I go, be it restaurants, grocery stores, and even hardware stores, I see DBW’s new sodas all over Texas. I’ve heard it’s out on the West Coast, too. But I imagine it is very tough on them: Dublin Dr. Pepper was over 70 percent of their sales. People used to buy cases and cases of Dublins.

—Matt Kettmann

BOTTLED UP: THE BATTLE OVER DUBLIN DR. PEPPERDon Merritt

SAT 2/1–4PM , METRO 4 & MON 2/3–1PM, SB MUSEUM OF ART

WORLD PREMIERE


You don’t need a movie to tell you that family dynamics are a tricky beast, but

this does a nice job of spinning the tale of a dysfunctional relationship into a harrowing little documentary about father, son, and food. � e plot is simple enough: Dario, a vegetarian, lives in Germany, about 6,000 miles from his family and native land of Ecuador. Meanwhile, back home, dad’s meat-centric restaurant is � oundering, and Dario’s � nancial help appears to be its last chance for survival. Against his better instincts, Dario returns home and attempts to help his old man climb out of debt. � e relationship is strained, ’til mom falls ill and the two men reconnect in a way that’s both touching and refreshingly free of sentimental chatter.

WHAT MADE YOU THINK HIS STORY COULD BECOME A FEATURE FILM?I began to suspect that my situation was more complicated than I thought. I had a lot of questions and no answers, and no idea how to resolve the con� ict with my father. Other people have similar family problems, but nobody talks out [about it].

HOW DID YOUR FATHER REACT TO THE IDEA OF FILMING THIS INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TIME IN HIS LIFE?At the beginning it was okay for him because it was like our � rst common project. I helped him

with the restaurant, and he helped me with the � lm. But later on after my mum has died, the camera helped us to be able to speak with each other. � e camera became a kind of mediatory. One month after my mum had passed away, my father asked me, “When we will go on � lming?” A camera has a magical e� ect — people join you. It’s like playing a guitar.

HOW DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CHANGED?Now I can understand a little bit better how family structures work. And I discovered that family and political structures work very similarly. But this was not the only thing; every time I see the � lm, I still discover new things about our relationship and my family. � e � lm changed the relationship with my father; now we talk turkey with each other.

—Aly Comingore

CÉSAR’S GRILLDario Aguirre

MON 2/3–7PM & WED 2/5–4PM, SB MUSEUM OF ARTTHU 2/6–7PM , METRO 4

US PREMIERE


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Meet the Makers - SBIFF