The Sacramento Food Film Festival returns March 15, 2013, and is expanded to two days this year, further evidence of the city’s culinary growth after being named America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital in 2012.
“Not only have we gone to two days, but we wanted to make it more participatory this year,” said festival organizer Catherine Enfield, who runs the Munchie Musings food blog. “We’re having honey tasting and sushi tasting, and there’s panel discussions with filmmakers and a scavenger hunt for the kids.”
Films to be shown include “Quest for Local Honey,” made in nearby Nevada County; “Jiro Dreams of Sushi;” and "Meat Hooked!”
All the films, Enfield said, were chosen for their emphasis on food, without being overly political. Additionally, the films are all relatively new, and one of them, “Symphony of the Soil,” will not be theatrically released until 10 days after the Sacramento Food Film Festival, but it will be showed at the event, and the filmmaker will be present for a question-and-answer session following the screening.
The event is held at the Guild Theater, located at 2828 35th St. in Sacramento. Tickets are $55 for a weekend pass. A pass to see all the films on Friday as well as attend the sushi tasting is $40. Otherwise, tickets to individual films are $7 per film. A complete list of showtimes can be found on the event website.
“The Guild Theater is perfect, because it seats 200, and they have an open snack bar that Whole Foods is sponsoring,” Enfield said. “We’re glad to have Whole Foods do the concession stand again, and they serve fresh fruit, nuts, and healthy snacks and beverages.”
Last year, the Sacramento Food Film Festival raised $2,000 for Slow Food Sacramento, and this year, proceeds will be split between Slow Food Sacramento and the California Food Literacy Center. Concession stands go to Whole Foods’ Whole Planet Foundation.
“Being the Farm-to-Fork Capital of America is great,” Enfield said. “People are more interested in where their food comes from, and we have it all here locally.”
