Santa Fe Film Festival: Now, Forager
KCET Cinema Series producer Michele Garza is heading over to the Santa Fe Film Festival this week. She'll be sharing her impressions of the festival and the films!
Film: "Now, Forager"
A food lover's dream, and perhaps a botanist's dream as well, "Now, Forager," a film by filmmakers Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin is beautifully shot with stunning images of wild mushrooms and the lush woods of the Northeast. The two central characters, a husband and wife team of wild mushroom foragers and experts on the topic of mushroom species, draw us into their nomadic and spartan lifestyle, and the difficulties in a trying to keep a marriage alive while following this unique life path. The husband's passion for wild mushrooms ultimately destroys the marriage and the wife discovers her talents as a professional chef. The film reveals a world that most of us know nothing about, a world more delicious than sautéed creminis, morels, and chanterelles. The film was a hit at New York's Gotham Independent Film Festival and garnered Cortlund and Halperin recognition as breakthrough new directors.
During a post-screening Q & A with Cortlund, we learn that the film is rooted in his own family's history in wild mushroom foraging and love of gourmet food. Playing in film festivals and theaters worldwide. Definitely worth your time to visit the film website.
Visit KCET Food to meet some real-life foragers in the video series, "California Foraging."