Little Lionel: A Short Documentary About Spinach, Pebbles, Pirañas and Cows
Lionel is a very funny animated short film created by four students at Gobelins, a French school of visual communication. In the film, some filmmakers are trying to make a documentary at a small elementary school in France. As part of the documentary, they interview the very, very active six-year-old Lionel in his first-grade classroom. So what is this documentary really all about? Is it supposed to be something about French elementary school education? If so, you certainly wouldn’t know it from what they got from their interview with little Lionel, who begins by talking to them about the spinach at lunch, followed by his observations on pebbles in the spinach, leading to a recitation about rocks, pirañas and cows. Finally, little Lionel shares his conclusion from all of that, which is something about how cows came to live in the country, rather than on the edge of the ocean or at the seashore.
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Little Lionel: A Short Documentary About Spinach, Pebbles, Pirañas and Cows
The Story of Stuff: Exposing the Effects of Human Consumption
The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute short film about the effects of human consumption, a cheerful but somewhat brutal assessment of how much Americans waste. The thick-lined drawings of the Earth, a factory and a house are meant to convey the cycle of human consumption, as are the pictures of dark puffs of factory smoke and outlines of skulls and crossbones that represent polluting chemicals floating in the air. It’s a fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls for the creation of a more sustainable and just world.
The Story of Stuff: Exposing the Effects of Human Consumption
I Get Wet is a short film that was co-written by an amazing afterschool class of elementary school children at the Grace Church School in Lower Manhattan and Benh Zeitlin. Benh Zeitlin directed the award-winning Glory at Sea, a film that was set in Post-Katrina New Orleans. Zeitlin is a member of the acclaimed film collective Court 13, which is a renowned ensemble group of collaborative filmmakers and performers.
I Get Wet begins as a dark tale of school bullying, about an 8 year-old who is constantly being tormented by a secret gang of girls in his elementary school. It turns out to be an adorable short film about a little boy, his best friend Super Dog and the strains placed on their close friendship because he didn’t want to be stuffed into a trash can every single day for the rest of his life. However, by the end of the film, I Get Wet reveals itself to be a true love story for the ages.
Grant Achatz at the WIRED NextFest: On Making Customers Cry
The 2008 WIRED NextFest: Millennium Park, Chicago
WIRED NextFest is the premier showcase of the global innovations that are transforming our world. Presently in its fifth year, WIRED’s gallery of the future includes unique and bold exhibits of sustainable design, next generation healthcare, interactive art and games, humanoid robotics and more. WIRED NextFest serves up the experience of provocative, fun, and groundbreaking work of 21st century visionaries.
Grant Atchatz at NextFest: Emotionally Involved Cooking
Restaurateur and renowned chef Grant Achatz is out to change the way you eat. A meal at Chicago’s Alinea restaurant can consist of up to 27 courses, providing a unique dining experience that prompted Gourmet Magazine to name Alinea the Best Restaurant in America in 2006. This year, Achatz won The 2008 James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef Award.
A small group of innovative chefs are melding science and haute cuisine, a mashup that’s often called molecular gastronomy. Achatz is one of the chefs who has introduced new kinds of technology to cooking, but he is leery of getting lumped in with the molecular gastronomists. According to Achatz, too often the gastronomists aim primary to evoke a certain emotion, while flavor is secondary. However, for Achatz induced emotion and flavor are combined. Further, “The technology allows us to get to the essence of food,” Achatz says. “It allows you to be more true with flavor, not less true.”
At his cooking presentation at NextFest, Achatz demonstrated why he, and not just his food, is so special. He peppered a seemingly casual cooking demonstration and food tasting with stories about how he evolved his one-taste preparations onto specially-made, sculptural serving utensils that hold heat, cold and flavors just to the chef’s liking. Audience members were impressed by two things about Grant’s presentation. First, even though he is undeniably one of the most inventive chefs in the business, he is as unpretentious as they come.
The other thing that was striking about Grant’s cooking presentation was his story about an early version of a dish, which had him burning leaves throughout the evening in the restaurant. Customers actually cried at the familiar smells of childhood. By engaging all the senses, Grant delivers an unexpectedly emotional experience.
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Achatz at NextFest: On Emotionally Involved Cooking
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Achatz: The Essence is an Emotionally Rich Experience
Inside Chicago’s Acclaimed Alinea Restaurant
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A Visual Tour of Alinea’s Creative, Cutting-Edge Dishes
Music Audio: Roseanne Cash, Elvis Costello and Kristofferson/April 5th:
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