Cork International Film Festival is delighted to announce that best-selling cookery writer, TV chef and teacher at Ballymaloe Cookery School, Rachel Allen, as the Festival’s first Culinary Ambassador.
Rachel has joined the Festival family to share her love of food in film and to celebrate the power of cinema to capture the passion of all things culinary. Her role includes promoting CIFF’s popular Culinary Cinema strand, which this year comprises four Irish premieres, each with accompanying special events, and a Culinary Walking Tour, each offering a unique and memorable film and food experience.
On Saturday, 2nd November, Rachel spoke to the Irish Examiner’s Gemma Fullam about her new role and the evocative power of film and food. Read the full interview here.
CULINARY CINEMA AT CIFF
Welcome to Jail / Benvenuti in galera + Q&A
Wed 13 Nov | Arc Cinema | 18:00 | Documentary | Subtitled
Filmed over three years, Welcome to Jail (Benvenuti In Galera) tells the story of the world’s first restaurant opened inside a penal institution.
Panel discussion: Join food writer and journalist Joe McNamee along with the people behind Cork’s own prison restaurant project: The Open Door, for a fascinating discussion on rehabilitation through upskilling in the culinary arts. The panel will include: Liam Spacey, Governor Cork Prison; Karen C. Whelan, Chief Officer Work Training, Cork Prison; JJ Healy, Culinary Lecturer MTU & The Open Door Project Coordinator, and William O’Brien, Chef de Partie, Rose Hotel, Tralee.
Tasty / Garduté
Thu 14 Nov | Arc Cinema | 18:00 | Fiction | Subtitled
Ona and Saulé work in a local canteen, where their innovative approach to cooking isn’t welcome. One day, they enter a national cooking competition and start impressing the judges when they connect with their creative instincts. But the pressure mounts.
Event: Join us in L’Atitude 51 after the screening for a fun Eastern-European pop-up with a warming dish and other bites inspired by the flavours of Eastern Europe, with wine to match.
The Keep
Sat 16 Nov | L’Atitude 51 | 13:00 | Documentary
This documentary short takes us behind the scenes of Woodcock Smokery, West Cork, revealing Sally Barnes’ skill and passion for a traditional culinary art.
Event: Join filmmakers Federico Conti and Martha Grillo, and Sally Barnes who will present a selection of her incredible Woodcock Smokery produce assisted by Aishling Moore of Goldie, Cork’s award-winning fish restaurant, who will prepare some fish appetisers from Sally’s larder as well as a Woodcock/Goldie Chowder specially designed for the occasion. Beverley from L’Atitude 51 will pour some wine to accompany the appetisers.
The Zen Diary
Wed 13 Nov | Arc Cinema | 18:00 | Fiction | Subtitled
Based on the nonfiction writings of the late author Tsutomu Mizukami, director Yuji Nakae’s beautifully serene film ensures that the careful preparation of the food is as important as the story, with everything giving a gentle consideration to what is important in our lives.
Event: Experience a Zen-themed evening at Cork’s premier Japanese restaurant, with an exclusive three-course menu curated by Chef Takashi Miyazaki and inspired by the film (Following the 18:00 screening, Arc Cinema) – The culinary portion of this event is now sold out, to join the waiting list email boxoffice@corkfilmfest.org
Culinary Walking Tour with Regina Sexton
Sat 16 Nov | English Market, Grand Parade (Starting Point) | 12:00
Join University College Cork’s food and culinary historian, Regina Sexton, for a city food culture walking tour of Cork City.
The tour will highlight the importance of food in shaping the city’s social, economic and cultural profile through time. Starting at the Old English Market on the Grand Parade, the tour will trace Cork’s food and culinary history from the medieval period through to the present day. The tour will walk the different eras putting substance to the claim that Cork is the Real Food Capital of Ireland.
About Rachel Allen
Rachel Allen is a bestselling cookery writer, TV chef and celebrated teacher at the world-famous Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork, Ireland. Raised in Dublin, Rachel began to study at Ballymaloe at the age of 18, remaining after graduation to cook at the Ballymaloe House Hotel and Restaurant. She then set off to cook around the world, returning afterwards to Ballymaloe to work at the cookery school. It was there she found her passion for teaching, where she continues to lecture to this day. Rachel is a popular figure in the culinary world, with an international audience for her bestselling cookery books and food writing, her live demonstrations, and her much-loved television programmes.
Rachel’s first book and accompanying TV series, Rachel’s Favourite Food, was published and broadcast in 2004. She has since published a wide range of successful cookbooks, including Bake, Easy Meals, Cake, Rachel’s Everyday Kitchen, and most recently All Things Sweet, each with an accompanying television series. Rachel’s books (14 in total) have sold in excess of 1 million copies worldwide, and her series for RTÉ and the BBC have been broadcast in 30 countries. Additionally, Rachel was co-host of Good Food Channel’s Market Kitchen, has appeared on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, and currently co-hosts The Restaurant alongside Marco Pierre White for RTÉ. Rachel has also been a guest on multiple international programmes including NBC’s Today.
Rachel’s recipes and writing have been published across a wide range of magazines and newspapers including The Irish Mail on Sunday, the Sunday Tribune, Delicious, Olive and BBC Good Food and Food & Wine Magazine, and she currently writes a weekly food column for the Sunday Independent.Rachel lives in a beautiful home overlooking the sea in Shanagarry, near Ballymaloe, with her husband, Isaac, and their three children.
