GASTRONOMADS
Annebel Huijboom | Great Britain 2014 | 19 Min. | OmeU
This film explores issues of migration, belonging and food preferences by focusing on the experiences of five migrant women from Senegal, Ethiopia, Iran, Philippines and Brazil, now all living in London. They all work for Mazí Mas, a social enterprise that provides short-term employment for migrant women, inviting them to cook food from their own countries in the context of a short residency as a steppingstone to finding more permanent and independent employment in the food sector. We see the chefs working during their residencyat the Yard Theatre: preparing the dishes, the cooking itself and the serving of the food. Every day of the week there is a different menu, according to the chef, who is working.
These images are combined with interviews, which give us an insight in the choices the women make regarding the food preparation, choices of raising their children and what they consider as home. Multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism can create anxiety, because they expose us to new ways of seeing the world. In the present-day world, large populations of people live in diasporas for all sorts of reasons, be they of their own free will or not. As people are living abroad or away from what they consider their ‘home culture’, the idea of ‘homeland’ becomes an important focus for nostalgic sentiment. The filmmaker discussed this with the women and their answers varied greatly. However, they all agreed on the importance
