North American Premiere
1885: “The Napoleon of the culinary arts,” Dodin Bouffaunt (Benoit Magimel) is the most renowned gourmand in France, although he would be the first to credit his beloved cook, Eugénie (Juliette Binoche), who makes even his most whimsical conceits sing. Their partnership runs deep; it’s practical, intimate, intuitive, romantic… He’s asked her to marry him many times, she always demurs. But they’re both getting older, perhaps it is time to try again…Thirty years after his debut feature The Scent of Green Papaya won the Camera d’or at Cannes, Tran Anh Hùng won the Best Director prize at this year’s festival with another delectable movie destined to join Babette’s Feast, Chocolat and Big Night on those lists of great foodie films. The Pot-au-Feu is so beautifully composed you can almost taste it: the mise-en-scene evokes Impressionist paintings, but the camera is agile and alive to the energy and dynamics of the kitchen. And for all its attention to process, the film reveals that this is itself a sublime consummation.
Best Director, Cannes 2023
Media Partner
Juliette Binoche, Benoit Magimel, Emmanuel Salinger, Patrick D’assumçao, Galatea Bellugi
France
2023
Special Presentations
In French with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
Christine De Jekel
Producer
Olivier Delbosc
Screenwriter
Anh Hung Tran
Cinematography
Johnathan Ricqueboug
Editor
Mario Battistel
Production Design
Toma Baqueni
Director
Tran Anh Hùng
Tran Anh Hùng was born in Vietnam in 1962 but educated in France. His first film, The Scent of Green Papaya (1993) explored the relationship between a cook and the master who falls in love with her. The film won the Camera d’Or at Cannes and established Tran on the art-house circuit. Cyclo in 1995 won the Golden Lion at Venice, and The Vertical Ray of the Sun in 2000 was also well-received. In 2010 he adapted Haruki Murakami’s novel Norwegian Wood for the screen. For his latest film, The Pot-au-feu, he won the Best Director prize at Cannes.
Filmography: The Scent of Green Papaya (1993); Cyclo (1995); The Vertical Ray of the Sun (2000); Norwegian Wood (2010)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Last One for the Road
Two middle-aged drunkards drive across the Veneto region on a freewheeling bender, taking a young college student along for the ride. A celebration of the spirit of drink and the kinds of stories told around a table of old friends and too much wine.
The Art of Adventure
The unbelievable adventure story of how painter Robert Bateman and ecologist Bristol Foster drove a Land Rover from Africa to Australia in 1957, developing a love of nature to last a lifetime. An inspirational love letter to the adventure of life itself.
Blue Heron
In the late 1990s, eight-year-old Sasha and her Hungarian immigrant family relocate to a new home on Vancouver Island. Their fresh start is interrupted by increasingly dangerous behaviour from Jeremy, the family’s oldest child.
Holy Days
After his mom passes, Brian (Elijah Tamati) is comforted by Sisters Agnes, Luke and Mary Clare (Judy Davis, Miriam Margolyes and Jacki Weaver, respectively). The quirky quartet hit the road to save their convent from being sold to a property developer.
The Grapes of Wrath
In this Film Studies workshop, Devan Scott explores the purposes of three-point lighting and the influence of German Expressionism on Hollywood studio filmmaking. Followed by a screening of The Grapes of Wrath, photographed by Gregg Toland.
How Deep Is Your Love
Filmmaker Eleanor Mortimer tags along with a team of oceanographers and marine biologists as they survey the Clarion-Clipperton fracture, one of the most remote spots on Earth, home to a dazzling array of unknown creatures.