Skip to main content
The Pot-au-Feu film image

The Pot-au-Feu

La Passion de Dodin Bouffant

This event has passed

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

Director
Cast

Juliette Binoche, Benoit Magimel, Emmanuel Salinger, Patrick D’assumçao, Galatea Bellugi

Credits
Country of Origin

France

Year

2023

Series

Special Presentations

Language

In French with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
134 min
Award Winners Drama Romance

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

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 headshot

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

Souleymane's Story

Dir. Boris Lojkine
92 min

Exhausted by the grueling grind of the Parisian gig economy and hopping between homeless shelters, Guinean immigrant Souleymane races against time to prepare for his asylum interview. An angry, tender film which is as gripping as any thriller.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Last Class

Dir. Elliot Kirschner
72 min

Economist and former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich embarks on what will be his last year teaching at Berkeley. What can he impart to the latest generation to inspire and empower them for the grievous challenges ahead?

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood

Dir. Quentin Tarantino
160 min

A film of luxuriant and sinister beauty, Tarantino's last movie to date is a rich and lovely immersion in the dying days of Old Hollywood, LA, 1969.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Last Breath

Dir. Costa-Gavras
100 min

At the age of 91 the revered filmmaker Costa-Gavras (Z) has made a gentle, curious, hopeful film about life on a palliative ward.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Balconettes

Dir. Noémie Merlant
105 min

In this flamboyant black comedy set in Marseille during a heatwave, writer-director-star Noémie Merlant and her two besties have to cover up the unpleasant evidence of a disastrous night partying with the hunk across the way.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Monk in Pieces

Dir. Billy Shebar & David C Roberts
95 min

A playful and engaging portrait of the avant-garde singer, composer, choreographer and performance artist Meredith Monk. Philip Glass, David Byrne and Bjork share their observations.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre