on the Silver Screen!
Food Roots in review
I had the privilege of attending the preview of “Food Roots” this past Saturday, May 16th, at Nashville PBS. The film follows Emmy Award-Winning Restaurateur Billy Dec on his journey to his mother’s native land in the Philippines in hopes of learning some of the recipes his family has passed down through generations. Through his adventure, Dec discovered more about his heritage and the history behind his ancestors, inspiring others to reach for their personal journey of cultural understanding. This film, produced by an Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy Winning team, demonstrates how essential food can be to not only different cultures, but the family connection that holds the backbone behind them. Along with the screening of the film, audience members indulged in light bites from Sunda New Asian, Billy Dec’s own restaurant, and were treated to a Q&A with Dec following the film. These activities allowed the audience to be fully engrossed in the atmosphere of the film, especially because most of the foods we were enjoying, we soon were shown how to make!
Food Roots does an excellent job of describing how personal family dynamics are so important in a child’s development. In that same vein, the film also touches on how outside influence and public erasure of “hard to understand” culture can be immensely confusing for people to grapple with, namely in developmental stages. Dec explained that growing up, the bullying for his brown skin and non stereotypical lunchbox food was unique. The kids would call him every slur in the vocabulary for brown skin, but no insult would ever be directed towards him being Filipino. Parallel to that, when building his career and appearing on television, Dec was advised to change the names of some Filipino cuisine dishes to easier- to- understand vernacular in order for audiences to stay engaged. This very clear erasure of Filipino culture is hard to ignore, especially as family-owned Filipino restaurants continue to close around the United States. This is due to the mass decision that Filipino food is less extravagant and interesting compared to other Asian dishes. A news article then flashed across the screen titled “Why Filipino Food Is Just The Worst.” Dec goes on to state that this provided him with a resentful attitude towards his culture because he was always viewed differently than everyone else. This is such an impactful subject to discuss in today’s society and how it views ethnicity, in particular. So many people with beautiful origins are not provided with the opportunity to experience their culture to its full extent and then in turn, feel intimidated to explore it because of a lack of knowledge. “Food Roots” and Billy Dec show a wonderful perspective by putting a journey of cultural understanding and curiosity on the big screen.
When asked why he chose to broadcast “Food Roots” on public television through PBS rather than a big name movie company, Dec answered that “It was super important to me to be able to tell the real story, the truth through our family’s eyes; where networks are awesome but also treat it as a flashy, entertainment type spin perhaps vision of others.” He went on to explain that he was given the opportunity through PBS to tell his story “because it matters.” “Food Roots” does indeed have a raw, honest feel. It truly follows Dec’s journey of self-discovery without dramatizing it. We see his family celebrating a wedding and cooking an entire cow together, a mixologist that makes it his mission to create drinks that Filipinos would’ve enjoyed before colonization, a precious outdoor cooking experience with a great-aunt, and an incredible journey to visit a 99-year-old tattoo artist who has been telling powerful Filipino stories through ink for generations. The beautiful thing about “Food Roots” is that all of the events we follow while watching, center around food and family connection. The audience gets to watch Billy Dec’s family tapes from his youth that capture his family cooking together, and then his great-aunt teaching him the recipe to one of those same meals years later. The film wraps with Dec teaching that recipe to the children of his family, creating a generational tradition that will expand with time.
Food Roots mixes documentary with genuine, personal experience to make for a special viewing pleasure that tugs at the heartstrings. Billy Dec tells PBS: “This film is ultimately about inspiring all to search for, learn, honor, celebrate and share the unique cultural beauty of where their ancestors truly come from, to help them understand who they are, perhaps positively affecting where they are going. Food has always been a universal language that helps bring that to life, opening up stories to connect with others, reminding us how beautiful this culturally diverse world truly is, or can be if we explore, share, respect and celebrate together.” Being Puerto Rican, I found this film to be particularly meaningful and inspired me to dive into my cultural background, as I believe it did for others. One member in the audience praised Dec for displaying just how accessible it is for people who do not know the language of their native country or even the country itself to simply go and explore. I was able to ask Dec’s advice for someone wanting to start their exploration journey. He answered: “Be present; find three to five goalposts, the rest can be just going and experiencing; change things on the fly, meet people; just go and do it.” This film is not solely influential to people of specific heritage, it is an excellent film for everyone to see how special and unifying culture is, how food is a common denominator that brings people together, and how no one is limited to what the world seems to provide.
“Food Roots” premiers on PBS in May, and on Billy Dec’s Youtube Channel on May 1st. Additionally, PBS shines a light on several local businesses through “The Grocery List” series. Be sure to check out all of these wonderful representations of culture in the world!
Link to Youtube version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozQV6rbDKdo
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Currently studying music at Middle Tennessee State University, Vivian Acevedo is a huge theater and arts lover. She believes in the healing power of music and its importance in the world!
