Filmmaker Paco Plaza's look at the work process and creativity at the Mugaritz restaurant, the experience of a famous Japanese chef in a restaurant in Paris, a non-fiction about the gastronomic culture of northern Japan and another about the meaning of cheese aging, as well as the long-awaited second part of El hoyo / The Platform by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia make up the menu of the Culinary Zinema section of the 72nd edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival. The first four films will compete for the Culinary Zinema Award, consisting of 10,000 euros for the winning film, and El hoyo 2 / The Platform 2 will close the out-of-competition section. Culinary Zinema, which will also include five themed dinners related to the screenings, was presented this morning at LABe Digital Gastronomy Lab at Tabakalera by the director of the Basque Culinary Center, Joxe Mari Aizega, and by the director of the San Sebastian Festival, José Luis Rebordinos.

Mugaritz. Sin pan ni postre will open the section on Monday 23 at the Victoria Eugenia Theater. The proposal of Paco Plaza (Valencia, 1973), the director of Verónica (Made in Spain 2017) and La abuela (Official Section 2021), goes beyond gastronomy. The viewer will become an exceptional witness to the process of reinvention that takes place in the restaurant of Andoni Luis Aduriz, one of the most creative and influential chefs on the international scene. Filmmaker Ayuko Tsukahara (Saitama, 1974) in Grand Maison Paris tells the story of a Japanese chef, a lover of french cuisine, who opens a restaurant in the city of light and struggles to get his third Michelin star. The dishes featured in the film have been designed by Kei Kobayashi, the first Japanese chef to receive three Michelin stars in Paris.

Tetsuya Uesugi (Sapporo, 1983) makes his feature film debut with Kita no syokukei / Northern Food Story, which follows the daily lives of four chefs who work around the rich food culture of northern Japan, in particular the island of Hokkaido and its community. After being selected in the documentary section of the Tribeca Film Festival, Shelf Life will compete for the Culinary Zinema Award. Director Ian Cheney (Boston, 1980) sets out to decipher whether spending time among people who are dedicated to aging cheese could provide clues about human aging. Cheney makes a peculiar treatise on cheese, in a tour of several countries around the world, to confirm the importance of this legendary product. After the global success of its first part, Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia (Abadiño, 1974) directs El hoyo 2 / The Platform 2, which will close the section out of competition. In this new installment starring Milena Smit and Hovik Keuchkerian, as a mysterious leader imposes his law on The Hole, a new tenant becomes involved in the battle against this controversial method to fight against the brutal food system.

Themed dinners

The five films in the section will be accompanied by themed dinners, which will take place between 23 and 27 September at the Basque Culinary Center. Joint tickets for the screenings and dinners will go on sale this Friday, August 30, at 10:00 a.m., through the Festival's and Kutxabank's websites. The price of tickets for the screening and the themed dinner is 80 euros, except in the case of El hoyo 2, which will adopt the cocktail format and emulate the aesthetics and experience of El hoyo and its iconic platform; The dinner will have capacity for 130 people and will cost 65 euros.

The Culinary Zinema themed dinners will start on September 23 after the screening of the documentary Mugaritz, sin pan ni postre with a gastronomic experience that will bring us closer to the creative universe of Mugaritz through different dishes, looks and people who have passed through the restaurant and who today lead relevant projects at a national level: Miguel Caño (Nublo), Juan Vargas (Muka), Alatz Bilbao (Bakea), Fran Baixas (Franca) and Carlos Salvador (Amaica). The Mugaritz team, which will use products from the garden of Leire Etxaide, who was part of the house and coordinates the BCC Garden project, will cook in the kitchens of the Basque Culinary Center to prepare a menu that will pay tribute to the cuisine of the restaurant with two Michelin stars that invites you to open your mind and not just your mouth. Diners will also be able to taste a pairing in accordance with the gastronomic experience, thanks to the collaboration of experts from the liquid world who have also been part of Mugaritz such as Dani Lasa (AMA Brewery).

The dinner on September 24 will be given by Paulo Airaudo, who faces the challenge of seeking excellence in his different projects around the world. The Argentinian chef will offer the opportunity to taste some of the elaborations of his different gastronomic proposals, Amelia (two Michelin stars), Da Filippo and Ibai, among others, with which he has conquered the palates of haute cuisine lovers in different corners of the planet. The experience on September 25 will bring attendees closer to rich and delicate Japanese cuisine, offering the possibility of tasting the elaborations of two chefs such as Takeshi Takahashi (Le Santé) and Hiroshi Sakai (Ajidokoro), protagonists of Kita no syokukei / Northern Food Story. As in the film Shelf Life, cheese will be the undisputed protagonist of the fourth dinner (Thursday 26), which, from a more local point of view, will highlight not only the richness and diversity of this product, but also its cultural roots and its value as an emblematic product of the territory thanks to the work and dedication of Mahaia Kolektiboa chefs  such as Roberto Ruiz (HIKA).  Dani López (Kokotxa) or Javi Rivero and Gorka Rico (AMA).

When feeding on the wrong plate becomes a death sentence, how far would you go to save your life? Young talents in gastronomy will bring the universe of El Hoyo 2 to life  with chef Edorta Lamo (Arrea!) and his furtive philosophy. With a scenography inspired by the film, the last dinner of Culinary Zinema (Friday 27th) will start with a cocktail offered by Aitor Sua and Lucas Fernández (Trèsde Restaurante) and elaborations by Jorge Sastre (Sartoria Panatieri, Brabo and Molla), all imbued with Lamo's disruptive philosophy. Except for the cocktail of the closing film, in all other cases, Culinary Zinema will hold its usual format of ten diners per table to promote dialogues that enrich the experience. The teaching staff and students of the Basque Culinary Center will participate in all the dinners, collaborating both in the kitchen and in the dining room.

Tickets for the films only will go on sale from September 15 at a price of 8.75 euros.