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Deconstructing Dinner Film Festival returns for fourth year

Here's the line-up of 12 films in five venues.
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Skyscraper-scale video projections in NYC are used to raise awareness of the world's endangered species and health of the oceans. The Academy- and Emmy-nominated film RACING EXTINCTION opens up the 2016 Deconstructing Dinner Film Festival

Now into its fourth year, the Deconstructing Dinner Film Festival will be hosted once again in Nelson. This year's festival of food documentary films expands to 12 films over 5 days at 5 venues. The schedule for 2016 is spread out between October 26 and November 12 – making it much easier for lovers of good food and drink to attend more events.

The event was founded in 2012 by food journalist Jon Steinman of Deconstructing Dinner. Steinman curates the films for each Festival.

Launching the Fest on October 26 at the Civic Theatre is Racing Extinction – from the Academy Award winning filmmakers of The Cove. Spanning the globe to infiltrate the world’s most dangerous black markets and using high tech tactics to document the link between carbon emissions and species extinction, Racing Extinction reveals stunning, never-before seen images that truly change the way we see the world. The film has received one Academy Award nomination and one Emmy nomination. Steinman calls the film “one of the most important of our time.” Two short films from Anna Lappe's Real Food Media Awards will round out the evening.

Other films to watch out for this year are That Sugar Film, Caffeinated, Seeds of Time, Sour Grapes, The Benevolent Butcher, Growing Local, The Market Gardener's Toolkit, Shuckers and The Oyster Men.

The 2016 Festival also features quite a few live music acts including Dawna McLennan (harp) and Jessica Doerner (cello), jazz duo Clinton Swanson and Rob Fahie, and Argenta's Rodman & Spring.

A Festival tradition returns with Brent the Oyster Man who will once again offer up his 2-buck-a-shuck oyster bar at the closing party on November 12 at the Spirit Bar. Local dinner selections including Kaslo Sourdough Pasta, an NBC beer sample, great oyster films and live music will make for a fun and entertaining evening.

Check out the Festival Guide for showtimes and tickets on our website.

2016 Feature-Length Film Summaries

RACING EXTINCTION (USA, 2015, 94min) – Oscar-winning Louie Psihoyos (The Cove) assembles a team of artists and activists on an undercover operation to expose the hidden world of endangered species and the race to protect them against mass extinction. Wednesday, Oct 26, 7:00 p.m.

THAT SUGAR FILM (Australia, 2014, 90min) - One man’s journey to discover the bitter truth about sugar. Damon Gameau embarks on a unique experiment to document the effects of a high sugar diet on a healthy body, consuming only foods that are commonly perceived as 'healthy'. Wednesday, Nov 2, 6:30 p.m.

CAFFEINATED (USA, 2015, 80min) – The story of coffee through the perspectives of people who have dedicated their lives to it. At every step of the process, it's the hands that planted the seed, that roasted the beans, that crafted the drink that makes every cup of coffee a story worth telling. Wednesday, Nov 2, 8:30 p.m.

SEEDS OF TIME (USA, 2015, 77min) – A perfect storm is brewing as agriculture pioneer Cary Fowler races against time to protect the future of our food. Friday, Nov 4, 7:00 p.m.

SOUR GRAPES (UK, 2016, 85min) – Rudy Kurniawan made 35 million dollars in two wine auctions from the sale of his wine. Then, in 2008, a French wine producer, Laurent Ponsot, realised that wine from his family's domain was being sold from a year they hadn't produced it. Thursday, Nov 10, 7:00 p.m.

THE MARKET GARDENER'S TOOLKIT (Canada, 2016, 79min): An educational documentary featuring Jean- Martin Fortier, author of the best-selling book The Market Gardener: A Successful Grower's Handbook for Small- Scale Organic Farming. Fortier shares his tools and techniques for successful, profitable, human-scale vegetable growing. Saturday, Nov 12, 1:00pm

GROWING LOCAL (USA, 2014, 3x15min) – While 'buying local' is on the rise, the stories in Growing Local make clear that small farms and access to locally produced food is not a sure thing. These three poignant stories help us understand the interconnected fates of small farms, consumers and the local food movement. Saturday, Nov 12, 1:00 p.m.

SHUCKERS (Canada, 2015, 60min) – Montreal restaurateur Tim Rozon and champion oyster shucker Daniel Notkin set out on the road to Oyster restaurants, festivals and farms to meet the craziest, most eccentric oyster shuckers. Saturday, Nov 12, 6:30 p.m.