Again this year, Denver Film Festival artistic director Brit Withey is offering his must-see picks for each day of the fest — including many flicks that movie lovers might otherwise miss amid the flood of silver-screen goodies. Today he spotlights a selection for November 7: Bugs.
Bugs
Directed by Andreas Johnsen
6:45 p.m. Monday, November 7
Sie FilmCenter
Denver Film Festival artistic director Brit Withey's must-see pick for Monday, November 7, has a Westword flavor. But mostly, it tastes like insects — appropriate, given that its title is Bugs.
According to Withey, the idea for the screening grew out of "a program I started earlier this year at the FilmCenter: the Culinary Cinema program, which featured food-focused films with a reception afterward with restaurants or caterers that was themed to the film. And I've brought that to the festival with a couple of films, including Bugs, which is about these two Danish activists" — Nordic Food Labs lead chef Ben Reade and chief researcher Josh Evans — "who go around the world on this bug-eating quest."
Their goal goes beyond simply edible adventuring, Withey continues. "It's part of their mission to advise the world that by 2050, there are going to be seven billion people on the planet, and if the Western world doesn't embrace eating bugs as a source of protein, we're all going to be in trouble. So they show all kinds of cultures that already do this and go around and eat bugs from these different places. It's really funny and often pretty gross and creepy, but fascinating at all times."
After the screening, attendees will be able to keep bugging out. Westword food writer Mark Antonation will conduct a Q&A with Justin Cucci of Edible Beats, who has several restaurants in the Denver area, including Linger. "Justin cooks cricket tacos," Withey says, "so he's going to talk about what it's like to cook with edible insects. And we've also found some other cricket providers here in Denver, including a company that makes insect bars, which are sort of like protein bars. So the whole post-film reception will be very insect-heavy."
Look below to see the trailer for Bugs. Click to access all the film festival's selections and to purchase tickets.