The Pot-au-Feu

La passion de Dodin Bouffant

64th TIFF: Greek Premiere

Cooking and cinema have always had a love affair, with the former providing inspiration and the latter reciprocating with tributes that tantalize the mind, the senses, and the salivary glands. However, no film about food quite captures the grandeur and beauty, the richness and abundance of this art like this one. Yet, no film about food quite captures the grandeur and beauty, the richness and abundance of this art like The Pot-au-Feu, where Tran Anh Hung cooks with the finest ingredients (Juliette Binoche, Benoit Magimel), delivering a masterpiece not just for the palate, but also for the heart, touching upon themes like cooking, love and freedom. Binoche is the brilliant chef of the gourmet landowner, Dodin Bouffant. With him, she shares not only the kitchen but also her life, albeit without the constricting bonds of marriage. Together, they compose a symphony of taste and an untamed way of life in a small Eden of bliss, beauty, and respect. Never has a film about cooking spoken so softly and delectably about so many things, and never has indulgence been captured so philosophically and thoughtfully on film.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.


Direction: Tran Anh Hung
Script: Tran Anh Hung
Cinematography: Jonathan Ricquebourg
Editing: Mario Battistel
Sound: François Waledisch, Paul Heymans, Thomas Gauder
Actors: Juliette Binoche, Benoit Magimel, Emmanuel Salinger, Patrick D' Assumcao, Galatea Bellugi, Jan Hammenecker Frédéric Fisbach
Production: Curiosa Films, Gaumont, France 2 Cinéma, Umedia
Producers: Olivier Delbosc
Co-producers: Bastien Sirodot, Cédric Iland
Costumes: Tran Nu Yên-Khê
Production Design: Tran Nu Yên-Khê
Executive producer: Christine De Jekel
Format: DCP
Color: Color
Production Country: France
Production Year: 2023
Duration: 134'
Distribution in Greece: Rosebud.21
Contact: Gaumont
Awards/Distinctions: Best Director Award - Cannes Film Festival (2023)

Tran Anh Hung

Trần Anh Hùng is a Vietnamese-born French film director and screenwriter. Hung was born in South Vietnam. Following the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, he immigrated to France at age 12. He majored in philosophy at a university in France. By chance, he saw Robert Bresson's film A Man Escaped and decided to study film instead. He went on to study photography at the Louis Lumiere Academy, which trains cinematographers. Hung has been at the forefront of a wave of acclaimed overseas Vietnamese cinema over the past two decades. His films have received international fame and acclaim, and his first three features were varied meditations on life in his home country Vietnam. Hung's Oscar-nominated debut was The Scent of Green Papaya (1993), which also won two top prizes at the Cannes Film Festival. His follow-up Cyclo (1995, which featured Hong-Kong movie star Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival. The Vertical Ray of the Sun, released in 2000, was the third film in his Vietnam Τrilogy.

Filmography

1993 The Scent of Green Papaya
1995 Cyclo
2000 The Vertical Ray of the Sun
2010 Norwegian Wood
2016 Eternity
2023 The Pot-au-Feu