What do a scientific test rig in a lab and a cheese fondue set have in common? 

The documentary Café Bern - Het geheim van Heli (von) Kopter tells the story of Helmut Winzeler, a Swiss nuclear physicist who abandoned his research on elementary particles in 1978 and opened his own café on de Nieuwmarkt in Amsterdam. Ever since, without fail, the café has been packed every night of the week. In the documentary, current staff members expand on the restaurant’s colourful history: from its establishment in the late seventies by the eccentric Helmut, who died in 2001, to the recent successful years. Café Bern is a magnificent portrait of a restaurant founded with a love for good food, following a pre-determined, yet golden formula.  

Homemade Smarties Documentary I Sigrun Köhler & Wiltrud Baier I England I 2007 I 25 min I English spoken I English subtitles

Smarties are delicious, but how do you make them? In Homemade Smarties three Scottish children decide to make their own Smarties at home. In the process, they discover that the ingredients of industrial confectionary do not sound like food at all, but rather brings to mind some sort of scientific laboratory. It is a real joy to watch this bunch of uninhibited kids, especially when they decide to call up the manufacturer - out of genuine interest- to ask where they can buy these mysterious and unpronounceable ingredients. The dialogue between the three young chefs is not only heartwarming, but also very characteristic of our society’s lost appreciation of collecting, selecting, preparing, and sharing of food. 

Murder Mouth Documentary I Madeleine Parry I Australia I 2011 I 17 min I English spoken I no subtitles

Everything we eat, once lived. Eating something thus implies killing something. Therefore, if you wish to eat something, you should actually also be able to kill it. According to the 21-year-old Australian Maddy, this is simply a matter of common sense. In a very matter-of-fact fashion, she carries out an unusual experiment. From now on she will personally kill her own food. Which isn’t too bad when it comes to preparing broccoli, but what about fish? How do you go about killing a chicken. Or a lamb? Murder Mouth is an ultimate attempt to reconnect the animal with the plate of food that it’s served on. The alternative is never to eat what you cannot kill.