"Cooking History" – Film screening and Q&A with the director Péter Kerekes

Type: 
film screening
Audience: 
Open to the Public
Building: 
Nador u. 15
Room: 
Room 103 Tiered
Category: 
Tuesday, July 2, 2019 - 7:00pm
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Date: 
Tuesday, July 2, 2019 - 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Military cooks are never mentioned in history books and yet they helped to influence the course of history. Péter Kerekes collected their stories from all over Europe to take us behind the scenes of dates, facts, declarations of war, battles, and peace agreements. The recollections of those who witnessed the European wars of the 20th century provide subjective perspectives on historical events that diverge from conventional history. In separate episodes addressing WWII, the Franco-Algerian war, the Soviet invasion of Hungary, the war in Chechnya, and the Balkan bloodbaths, Kerekes lets his subjects hold forth in monologues, prompted by his off-camera questions. Through their subjective recollections, food preparation becomes a metaphor for battle strategy. Cooking History opens up a dimension of history one won’t find in textbooks or archives. The directness of the anecdotes and destinies of the people in this film conveys a sense of hope, longing, and survival strategies in the midst of destruction and despair.
Original language: Hungarian, Russian, Hebrew with English subtitles 88 min

Special Jury Award - International Feature Hot Docs Toronto 2009, Nomination for the European Film Academy Award - Best Documentary 2009, The Hugo Gold award -Chicago Film Festival 2009, FIPRESCI Jury Award - Leipzig DOKS 2009, Vienna Film Prize for Best Documentary - Viennale 2009, Memorimage Award for the Best Production 2009, Best Int’l Documentary - Sofia Film Festival 2010, Best Feature Documentary - Slow Motion Food Film Festival 2011


Peter Kerekes
(1973) 
Director and Producer
Born in Košice, lives in Vištuk. Graduated in film directing at the Film and Television Faculty at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. “66 Seasons” (2003), “Cooking History” (2009) and together with directors Palo Pekarčík and Ivan Ostrochovský “Velvet Terrorists” (2013). He is teaching at film academy in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Powered with the CEU Humanities Initiative, organized by the Visual Studies Platform.

The event is a public program organized in the framework of Summer University 2019. Fields of Vision: Memory, Identity, and Images of the Past.