Liverpool grown Food For Real Film Festival – the only festival of its kind in the UK – returns for its third edition from Thursday to Sunday, 19 to 22 March 2015.

Curated by socially-engaged, creative food enterprise Squash Nutrition, the festival seeks to explore the environmental, cultural and political impacts of the foods we grow, eat, waste and share in a fun and accessible way.

Spread across four delicious days, the festival will see cinemas, eateries, gardens and even the city’s streets play host to an interesting and eclectic programme of over 30 food-related films, documentaries, animations and shorts accompanied by a host of talks, hands-on activities, workshops and tastings for all the family.

All Food For Real Film Festival events are FREE to attend, but booking is essential. Festival-goers are invited to make a donation when booking tickets online. Funds will go towards staging the festival and growing the event for future years.

Highlights of this year’s festival include UK Premieres of Breastmilk the Movie and workshops for breastfeeding Mums – all going some way to help remove the age-old stigma of this natural and essential activity. The involvement in the festival will promote and empower those breastfeeding parents.

A major highlight is Disco-Scouse. Dust off those dancing shoes and wooden spoons for a joyful combination of dance and cookery – all set against a soundtrack from live DJs. This event will see a team of volunteer cooks make a tasty veggie Scouse for up to 500 diners – from food which would have otherwise gone on to be landfill. Disco-Scouse is based on, Disco-Soupe a campaign which takes positive action against food waste, which began in Germany and now active across the world.

Film fans will enjoy the Taiwanese culinary rom-com The Moveable Feast; while those who enjoy the outdoors will experience a day of foraging, open air food and meandering in Toxteth to celebrate the Spring Equinox.

Workshops include everything from mask making to producing Korean cabbage kimchi. This year also features the first Food for Real Film Awards, and the inaugural screening at the brand new A Small Cinema.

Clare Owens of Squash Nutrition said:

“Join us this spring for an action-packed Food for Real film festival. We are really excited about the tasty programme of free, food focused films and activities, including screenings and workshops about spring seed sowing, food waste, salt, sugar, and breastfeeding!

“Come and dance while you cook at Disco-Scouse, find out about fermentation and kimchi, or come along to a new seasonal food market at Constellations! Everyone loves food and this a very inclusive festival for people of all ages, so bring your family or friends for what promises to be a fantastic four days of food and film.”

Food For Real Film Festival is funded by Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Food People, Liverpool CCG, and Awesome Liverpool. The festival is sponsored by Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority, Slow Food Liverpool, Riverside Housing and Halen Mon salt. The festival is again delighted to be supported by Odeon Liverpool One.

Festival highlights and ones to watch include:

• Thursday 19th March – A focus on Salt and Sugar includes make your own sugar free treats and food preservation workshops at John Archer Hall; documentary screenings including Fed Up, a chilling tale of hidden sugar; Love Lane Lives, looking at the impact of the closure of a Tate & Lyle refinery; and My Name is Salt, a beautifully shot look at salt harvesting, at cinemas FACT and Odeon at Liverpool ONE. The programme also includes a screening of cult sci-fi film Soylent Green at Unit 51, a macabre exploration of a futuristic food shortage; and a Q & A with world authority on food waste Tristram Stewart at Odeon at Liverpool ONE.
• Friday 20th March – Events focus on Food and Mind and includes a talk about tiffin culture at street food restaurant Mowgli; Spring planting workshop at Grapes Community Garden; and a day of short films from around the world at John Archer Hall, Toxeth; workshops exploring emotional connections to food and mask making at FACT; plus screenings of acclaimed Italian feature film The Four Times. Friday also sees the UK Premiere of Breastmilk The Movie, a documentary film about all aspects of breastfeeding at the Odeon at Liverpool ONE, as well as a celebration of the Equinox at Constellations, with Asian inspired food and the UK Premiere of Taiwanese culinary rom-com The Movable Feast.
• Saturday 21st March – Celebrate the Spring Equinox with a day of events around Windsor Street in Toxteth’s Liverpool 8. Breakfast at dawn in the open air, forage for Spring shoots with environmentalist Gemma Jones, and seed-pod headdress making. Try a spot of Disco-Scouse at Fire Fit Hub, while at John Archer Hall there is a talk discussing the upcoming community hub Toxteth Food Central, with artist Nina Edge sharing ideas over on the proposed site at Windsor Street. The day ends with a Garden Party at Grapes Community Food Garden, featuring the Beatlife drummers and Hope Street Harmonies choir, plus Solardome Cinema screens a series of food shorts.
• Sunday 22nd March – Enjoy a day of family fun including a screening of Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory at the Odeon at Liverpool ONE; a talk on the ancient craft of salt-making at The Pen Factory, and a Make and Grow seasonal produce market at Constellations featuring breastfeeding friendly areas, weaning workshops and finger puppet making. The day also features a series of short film screenings in the pop up cinema from the Meet My World global film campaign. The final screening, the wonderful The Lunchbox at the Brink, is followed by Food for Real’s first film awards – for Best Film and People’s Choice!

All events are free but booking is essential. For group bookings contact Lisa on 0151 707 7897. Donations to the festival can be made through Eventbrite when booking.

For booking and festival updates at:

Website: www.foodforreal.co.uk
Eventbrite: www.foodforreal.eventbrite.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/FoodForRealFilmFestival
Twitter: @FoodforRealFest