This past weekend we went to the Slow Food Film Festival in Bologna, Italy. The film festival had begun last Wednesday, but we started our viewing sessions yesterday afternoon. Our first show at 4 pm was a compilation of short comedic segments taken from old television programs. We were happy to discover that they were selling "Slow Snacks", a variety of artesinal crackers, cookies, nuts, chocolates, and cheese for people to munch on during the shows. Before every movie we bought a few, which did not last much longer than the introduction! The Slow Snacks were the organization's answer to the junk food that is typically sold at movie theaters around the world, which are full of fat and sugar, and symbolize the American diet that is causing such grave problems as obesity. In the early evening we enjoyed an aperitivo in the courtyard, while eating more slow snacks. Our favorite was this little cracker called Scaldatelli, which was crunchy and flavored with either almonds or anise. They were so delicious, especially accompanied by some authentic Parmesan cheese.
Then at night we headed over to another theater for the showing of "A Table in Heaven", a movie about Sirio Maccioni, legendary owner of Le Cirque 2000. The movie was about Sirio handing over the restaurant to his 3 sons, or at least incorporating them more in his business. The filming took place when Sirio closed down the original Le Cirque and was working on opening the new Le Cirque 2000. I learned a thing or two about how Tuscan families are, especially they way in which they discuss tough issues. Oooph, I better get ready! My favorite scene was when Sirio asked Henry Kissinger's opinion about where he should open the new restaurant, Central Park West, or the Bloomberg building? Afterwards, everyone headed over to Mambo (Bologna's Modern Art Museum) for Spaghetti a la Bolognese (which I learned is apparently a mythical dish), and Zuppa Inglese (which apparently is not). This morning we woke up and went to see the documentary shorts competition. One of the films which we both really liked was about raw milk, and the battle of one Ontarian farmer, Michael Schmidt, to sell raw milk to informed consumers who wished to drink it. The main issue there was how involved a government should be in its people's diet, and the human right to decide what one will consume. Another short we saw was about a Norwegian man who specialized in culling and salting cod, which was going to earn him the esteemed Slow Food Presidia award. He would have to share his secrets with competitors, giving up knowledge he had learned his whole life, in order to create a market viable enough to compete against China.
Afterwards, we walked around Bologna, enjoyed more pasta with "Bolognese" sauce before heading home.