“Breaking Bread” (M) *** and a half

WHAT’S going on right now in the cradle of the three book-based religious faiths and Western civilisation? People are killing people in support of religious differences. People are eating.

Examining one of the two activities that simply can’t deliver their complete sensory promises no matter how they are portrayed as moving images, “Breaking Bread” illustrates what happens when people focus on their humanity rather than on religion or politicians.

On a quest to make social change through food, Dr Nof Atamna-Ismaeel – the first Muslim Arab to win Israel’s “MasterChef” – founded the A-sham Arabic Food Festival, where pairs of Arab and Jewish chefs collaborate on exotic dishes such as kishek (a Syrian yogurt soup), and qatayef (a dessert typically served during Ramadan).

Beth Elise Hawk wrote and directed this documentary about people cooking and eating and people killing people to show how those two activities are co-existing. 

“Breaking Bread” shows things that cooks have been doing for millennia, using ingredients that were to hand at the time. I call that a great foundation for stopping bombs and rockets and senseless destruction. 

You can’t taste what’s cooking on the screen. But you can see Israeli and Muslim cooks co-operating, exchanging recipes, comparing methods, above all, being friends. Anybody got a better idea?

At Palace Electric