Tasty Treats

This article was published in the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald.

TASTY TREATS abound at Strath Film Festival

THERE will be tasty treats everywhere at the second Kingussie Food on Film Festival which runs for two days from February 6, 2009 at Kingussie High School. The first festival of its kind in Scotland, it combines feature films, short films, documentaries and a film-making competition with locally produced food, celebrity cooking demonstrations, competitions and a local food market.

The BBC's Craig Anderson will host Saturday's Film Night and interview all the short film directors. He said: "I so enjoyed taking part in last year's inaugural festival that I immediately agreed to come along and be involved again. This year I will also be part of an X Factor-style panel of film industry judges for the Highland Youth award for Short Food Films, which will open the festival on the Friday evening."

This award was launched in September after a highly successful film-making workshop in Kingussie attended by six schools from across the Highlands including Grantown and Kingussie. The workshop was run by Triple Echo Productions, of Newtonmore, who make the well-known "The Adventure Show" on BBC 2.

A £300 prize will be awarded for the best film at the Friday "Oscar Night" event, complete with red carpet, chocolate fountain, evening dress and live local youth bands. Also involved in the Saturday Film Night will be helpers with learning disabilities from Kingussie's Caberfeidh, who will be giving out free chocolate to eat with the screening of the main feature film, "Chocolat".

Internationally renowned cook, writer and presenter Lady Claire MacDonald will demonstrate her cooking at The Food Hall on Saturday afternoon, accompanied by her head chef Marcello Tulley. There will also be cooking competitions for children and a blind tasting competition organised by French chef Lydie Bocquillon for those eager to show off their culinary skills.
One of the festival's main organisers, Lydie said, "We are really excited to see the way this festival is taking off. I am confident it will grow and develop year on year and become a major event in the Highland calendar. The unique combination of food and films is irresistible, especially in the winter."

Sponsored by the Cairngorms National Park and organised by the Auld Alliance Gourmet Academy, in partnership with Kingussie High School, the event also received support from the Kingussie Business forum, the Strathspey and Badenoch youth forum and the Kingussie Mums and Toddlers Group.

The award-winning short film "Breadmakers", about Edinburgh's Garvald Bakery, which is staffed by people with Down's Syndrome and autism will also be shown and its acclaimed Lebanese/Canadian director Yasmin Fedda will appear to discuss the movie. She recently received the prestigious Black Pearl Award with its cash prize of £46,000 in Abu Dhabi but was delighted to take part in the Kingussie event when she was invited.