Meet four Italian holdouts against commercial farming and the homogenization of food culture – all “villains” in the eyes of corporate agribusiness and EU lawmakers.
Salvatore farms his market garden organically and is reviving an ancient local wheat variety. Luigina sells fresh vegetables and preserves at a local farmers’ market. Modesto runs his dairy farm on traditional lines, milking his small herd by hand, and making his own ricotta and caciocavallo cheeses. The Galasso brothers, from a long line of fishermen, farm mussels off the coast of Puglia.
All find inspiration in the traditional practices of previous generations and see themselves as upholding a kind of excellence in food that falls outside – or is threatened by – the EU’s many laws and food quality schemes. At stake, ultimately, is Italian cooking itself, as it has come down to us: will it survive, or disappear?
Followed by a discussion with film director Daniele De Michele hosted by Nicola Gallani, International Manager, BFI. With the support of the Italian Cultural Institute in London.
Buy your ticket HERE.
Watch the Trailer HERE.
Daniele De Michele “Donpasta” is a DJ, economist, and gastronomy enthusiast, considered by the New York Times to be one of the most inventive food activists. In 2018, he presented his first documentary film on Italian cuisine I Villani (The Villains) at the Venice Film Festival. For Treccani and Il Corriere della Sera, he has published the web series Le Nonne d’Italia in cucina. (Italy’s Granma in the Kitchen). Daniele has been travelling the world since 2004 with his cooking show Food Sound System.