Coming to select theatres and to virtual cinemas today, Friday, September 25:
OTTOLENGHI AND THE CAKES OF VERSAILLES
Director:
Laura Gabbert
World Premiere:
Tribeca 2020 (cancelled)
Select Festivals:
Hot Docs, Sedona, Hot Springs Doc, Florida
About:
Renowned chef Yotam Ottolenghi assembles a confectionary tribute to Versailles for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
On the occasion of the Met’s 2018 “Visitors to Versailles” exhibition, the museum commissioned the famed Israeli-born Ottolenghi to explore the food culture of the court between 1682-1789. To realize the task, he recruits an international troupe of patissiers to showcase their innovative approaches to desserts: cronut inventor Dominique Ansel, Daniel’s Ghaya Oliveira, social media sensations Bompas and Parr, edible art-maker Janice Wong, and architect-turned-cake maker Dinara Kasko. Filmmaker Laura Gabbert follows these culinary dynamos as they contend with logistical challenges to pull off their impressive creations, while providing audiences with the ever-excited Ottolenghi’s exploration of French history through food. While the film largely leaves out larger considerations of the class disparities that led to the French Revolution and the end of Versailles, that’s not something one should really expect from a lighter, arts-focused project like this one.
what (not) to doc 