Grounded – Special Two-Episode Screening with Palestinian cook Muzna Bishara and film producer Rotem Heyman

Grounded – Special Two-Episode Screening
with Muzna Bishara (Palestinian cook and culinary historian), Rotem Heyman (film producer); chair: Paola Migliorini

Muzna Bishara, a Palestinian cook and culinary historian, embarks on a journey of identity and memory following the traditional Palestinian cuisine, its unique and surprising ingredients, and the elderly women who carry the stories of the land and its people. Traditional cuisine is much more than food – it is a living expression of identity, of memories and heritage. Its ingredients are part of the land’s geography and seasons; its tastes reflect its conflicts and politics.
Palestinian cuisine carries within it popular, personal, and feminine history; it intertwines with the narrative found in books, adds flavor to it, and brings it to life.
Muzna Bishara’s eight-chapter journey is also a journey to a disappearing generation of women who carry the memory of rural cooking. Each chapter focuses on an ingredient or a raw material, its region of cultivation, its season, and a local family who works with it: olives and sumac, the akoub and the eggplants are the foundations from which the flavor of the land is created, stories that Muzna seeks to explore, and a new way to touch the tragic history of her people.
The screening of two episodes from the series directed by Shady Srour will be followed by a Q&A session with Muzna Bishara and producer Rotem Heyman.

Muzna Bishara is an experienced dentist, lecturer, and culinary researcher highlighting traditions, techniques, and cultural narratives of Palestinian cuisine through the lenses of history and anthropology.

Rotem Heyman is a producer with extensive experience in international documentary filmmaking with award winning films including two Emmy-nominations.

The screening and conference – in English – will be held on March 19th  in Aula Magna at 5 p.m.