The cooking show is as old as television itself. But why do we like watching the making of a meal that most of us will never cook, let alone eat? Dirty Furniture’s jam-packed video essay is a rollercoaster ride through the history of the genre, at once a staple of television viewing and a hotpot of shifting perspectives and sociocultural values.
Non-Stop (2020)
Province of Ciudad Real, Spain, December 29, 1990. During the annual march to the Herrera de la Mancha prison, held in support of the members of the terrorist gang ETA imprisoned there, the Basque rock band Negu Gorriak holds a concert, which is recorded, edited on video and turned into a tool of vindication. Decades later, a film crew tries to elaborate a personal essay around this event and its meaning.
Em Busca da Essência na Cozinha (2020)
Chef André Mifano goes out in search of characters who keep alive old techniques of obtaining products such as pork in the can, seine fishing, fish brine and brown sugar. This knowledge that passes from generation to generation inspires Mifano to reflect on what is essential in his kitchen.
Taube Feuer (2024)
With noise-canceling headphones, they communicate with an inaudible counterpart. Decoupled, they move around the room and meet their surroundings. Intimate stories and needs are discussed. The personal blends into a shared portrait.
Pineapple (2020)
A short made during quarantine. - "I feel like I'm coming out of hibernation. I did not learn anything, I did not developed personal growth, nor qualities. I was smart for one day and read challenging stuff, and then for three days watched persisently TV series. I couldn't write. I found a handful of indispensable people. I didn't really understand much of this whole quarantine story; but I'm analytically only retroactive, so maybe it's going to happen. This movie made me feel alive for a few days."
25 Years with Lidia: A Culinary Jubilee (2023)
A look at the life of chef, restaurateur and cookbook author Lidia Bastianich both on and off the screen as she celebrates 25 years on public television.
Ten Lives of a Cat: A Film about Chris Marker (2023)
Ten years after the death of iconic French filmmaker, Chris Marker. A filmmaker, hoping to rediscover that unique sensibility against the uncertainty of the new century, returns to the places synonymous with those incomparable and unforgettable films-- From the cat cemetery of Sans Soleil, to the mausoleum of The Last Bolshevik; The caves of Level Five to the rooftops of The Case of the Grinning Cat. A biographical portrait of one of the 20th century's greatest and most misunderstood filmmakers.
October in Madrid (1965)
Initially a made-to-order documentary on Spain, the film becomes an open-ended work-in-the-making about the creative process. “Settling in the Spanish capital to make a documentary, Hanoun sketches out for us the different steps involved in making a film. The author turns his hesitations, his doubts and difficult working conditions into the constituents of his work”. (Raphaël Bassan)
Magritte or the Object Lesson (1960)
The surrealist painter René Magritte questions the objective reality and emphasizes the arbitrariness of the relationship between an object, its image and its name: the evocation of mystery consists of images of familiar things gathered or transformed in such a way that they no longer conform to our ideas, whether naive or wise.
Magnicidios Poe (2017)
The sarcastic account of the assassination of five Spanish politicians between 1870 and 1973 is mixed with the narration of five short stories by Edgar Allan Poe illustrated by five skillful pencil artists. A documentary, a video essay, a collage, a provocative experiment where various pop culture figures and icons perform unexpected cameos. The macabre joke of a jester. Never more.
Klassenverhältnisse am Bodensee (2022)
A filmmaker reconstructs a common memory about the formerly industrialized Lake Constance region, which was also largely built up by migration – and in recent years has mainly attracted people who do not like to pay taxes. The imprints speak, the fog. Without talking heads, in perspectives beyond the memorialized self-image of this region, classism becomes comprehensible.
Mary Berry's Ultimate Christmas (2022)
British home cook Mary Berry prepares the ultimate Christmas feast with all the trimmings; chefs Angela Hartnett and Monica Galetti share favorite festive recipes; Mary and television host Rylan Clark try to convert some children to Brussels sprouts.
The Diary of a Sky (2024)
The Diary of a Sky unfolds an atmospheric symphony of violence over Beirut, revealing the haunting fusion of incessant Israeli military flights and the hum of generators during blackouts. This 45-minute video essay plunges viewers into a chilling chronicle of daily life transformed by the weaponization of the air, where the terror of repeated incursions becomes a disconcertingly banal backdrop.
How to Cook Your Life (2007)
A Zen priest in San Francisco and cookbook author use Zen Buddhism and cooking to relate to everyday life.
Cook With the Book (2019)
This TV series collects the basic premises to cook and eat better through the teaching of techniques, tips and secrets of cooking and nutrition within other hints to better living. A culinary trip through South America guided by some of the best chefs of the world. A space to learn, know and discover new food, ways of preparation, culture and tradition. Cooking classes that go beyond A, B, C of how to cook and look forward to the basic knowledge of what to cook, and why. Following the step by step of simple recipes we will be knitting a story involving our way of eating, social trends and personal habits. A long lasting learning experience with new acknowledgement that can be applied every day introducing new habits that will affect our health in a positive way.
The World's Greatest Head Massage: An ASMR Journey (2016)
Two men fly to India to search for Baba, the "Cosmic Barber of Pushkar," whose famous "World's Greatest Head Massage" videos gave them both tingling ASMR sensations.
Lejano Interior (2020)
A "cinematic object" by Mariano Llinás, divided into 9 chapters, based on the poetry of Henri Michaux.
Moving Memories (NaN)
On April 1st, 2022, my grandfather passed away and i felt lost. I think my path changed when, some days after he passed away, i was offered a small VHS camera. "Moving Memories" is a visual journey that makes the viewer reflect on our momentary presence on earth and questions the nature of memory. Throughout this journey, we get to the conclusion that memories are more than just static photographs in our minds, they're alive and in constant movement, changing while we evolve as individuals. These memories have influence and help us to move on.
40 Days to Learn Film (2020)
For just forty days, filmmaker and writer Mark Cousins embarks on a peculiar journey in order to explore topics as the passion for cinema and certain aspects related to making films as style, ideas, emotions and practicalities; an ambitious exploration of the universal language of cinema by analyzing pieces of work that cross every artistic and cultural boundaries.