In Haifa, Israel, the annual A-Sham Festival pairs Arab and Jewish chefs who showcase their traditional foods and foster understanding in the kitchen. It was created by Dr. Nof Atamna Ismaeel, a microbiologist and a winner of a popular Israeli reality chef show who identifies as Arab, Israeli and Palestinian. With “Breaking Bread,” the documentary filmmaker Beth Elise Hawk captured the festival in 2017 and 2018 with appropriately mouthwatering scenes. The emphasis of the film shows how chefs from different backgrounds, religions and cultures can cooperate. “When I founded the A-Sham festival I did not want to say Israel, I didn’t want to say Palestine,” Dr. Ismaeel said in the trailer for the documentary. “I don’t believe there is any room for politics in the kitchen.”
“Breaking Bread” opens Friday at Quad Cinema, quadcinema.com, and will be shown Sunday and Tuesday at the JCC Manhattan, mmjccm.org.
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