Fresco Movies Boards ‘Breaking Bread,’ Bought by Mediawan Rights

Palestine’s Fresco Movies has boarded Tamara Erde and Mathias Énard’s TV one-off “Breaking Bread,” with France’s Haut et Courtroom Doc already locked as the primary producer. Tony Copti will produce alongside Emma Lepers.

Making an attempt to discover the Israeli-Palestinian battle by way of meals, “Breaking Bread” will attempt to reply one query: Does gastronomy separate us or deliver us collectively?

Clocking in at 52 minutes, the documentary – to be shot in Arabic, Hebrew and French – will go into manufacturing within the spring of 2023. Mediawan Rights handles the gross sales.

“There are various documentaries on this topic and most of them present the harshness of the battle. We cherished this challenge due to its lighter and extra approachable perspective on such a dense topic, which creates the chance of reaching a wider viewers,” says head of documentary gross sales at Mediawan Rights, Arianna Castoldi.

“Tamara’s gaze, so contemporary, human and acutely aware of the fact of the scenario, in addition to Emma’s experience in producing high-value documentaries, are what satisfied us to leap on board.”

Erde can be hoping to interact viewers in a “direct and sensorial” approach, utilizing acquainted angles to lift questions on advanced issues.

“The thought was born after we met with Mathias in his Center Jap restaurant in Barcelona. We began to speak about sure dishes he serves there, and realized some variations in the way in which we perceived them, him from his life in Lebanon and me from my life in Israel.”

Erde, additionally behind “This Is My Land,” is an Israeli-French filmmaker. Énard is a French author and the Prix Goncourt winner.

Described by the administrators as an “emancipatory documentary,” “Breaking Bread” will invite the viewers to affix of their travels and style the meals, says Erde. However whereas they strategy the battle in a brand new approach, they’ll nonetheless maintain it critical.

“We undoubtedly don’t consider issues are easy sufficient to be solved by folks sharing a meal or by having them say: ‘We’re each having falafel, so let’s be mates,’” she says.

“In fact, it’s far more advanced and in that sense a lot much less optimistic. There are problems with cultural appropriation, emotional wounds and losses, that are additionally mirrored by way of tales and anecdotes centered round meals.”

“What we do consider in, nevertheless, is that by way of figuring out one another higher we will be extra empathetic and cease seeing ‘the opposite’ because the enemy. Which is a basic first step in direction of peace.”

Whereas the subject material alone provokes debates and controversies, the filmmakers are arising with concepts to have a dialog, not a confrontation.

“We want to host occasions that may mix screenings with meals tasting, making a extra relaxed expertise that may then open up a chance for much less heated dialogue. We additionally think about accompanying the movie with a e-book of recipes, so as to maintain the dialog going,” she notes.

Erde, who grew up in Israel, says it was the Second Intifada that made her understand that political choices are sometimes made with out making an allowance for devastating penalties for the civilians. She discovered her dilemmas mirrored in Mathias’ writing, typically taking over themes linked to the Center East.

“Since that second, and that is the primary query underlying the movie, I’ve been asking myself whether or not it’s doable to be accepted by the individual on the opposite facet. Is it doable to share their plate and settle for their presence?”

“My mom infrequently cooked and for a very long time, I didn’t prepare dinner both. However once I began to overlook Israel, that’s how I rediscovered my connection to the nation. I actually consider that meals, dishes and flavors carry the reminiscence of individuals, their nation and their tradition,” she provides.

“Given the richness of the characters and the tales we’ve discovered, we’re additionally planning a sequence on that topic. In that sequence, we might strategy the entire area, and its historical past, by way of meals.”