Julia Joun, the founder and executive director of Boulder’s Flatiron Food Film Festival, hesitates to classify this year’s multi-day series of events (October 10–13) as having any particular theme. But one look at the robust programming lineup reveals a distinct focus on immigrant cuisines and cultures. “I’m excited about how timely we are this year in terms of the festival’s focus on immigration,” Joun says. “It’s something I think people really need to get a better grasp on as an issue, and I hope the festival can help.” 

This year’s festival includes 20 outstanding agricultural, political, and culinary-focused movies and events for you to feast upon, highlighting perspectives from chefs, farmers, and sommeliers from Morocco to Zimbabwe. Here are the events you won’t want to miss.

Opening Night: The Migrant Kitchen | October 10, 7:30 p.m.

Celebrate the festival’s commencement with the screening of two episodes of the Emmy-award winning television series, The Migrant Kitchen, which focuses on the contribution of immigrant cuisines on the American culinary landscape. Intermission will include tastes of Japanese and Jewish deli food, in line with the episodes that will be screened: Omotenashi and The Jewish Deli.  

SOMM 3 | October 11, 7:30 p.m. 

Oenophiles won’t want to miss this showing of SOMM 3, the third installment in the wine-themed documentary series. Master Sommelier and SOMM 3 star Dustin Wilson will introduce the film and participate in a panel discussion following the screening moderated by Raymond Snead of Boulder’s Cocktailpunk, alongside Bobby Stuckey, owner of Frasca Food & Wine, and Sabato Sagaria, current president of bartaco in New York and former food & beverage director at the Little Nell in Aspen.  

A #MeToo Look at the Restaurant Industry | October 12, 11 a.m. 

The festival will kick off a new lecture series by addressing sexism, management inequality, and harassment in the restaurant industry through a conversation with Beth Gruitch of the Crafted Concepts restaurant group and Sarah Brito of the Good Food Media Network. Listen as Gruitch and Brito share their insights on the topic, how the #MeToo movement has provided an opportunity to engage in dialogue about male domination within the hospitality industry, and what that means for women now. 

Tazzeka: Art & Film Screening | October 12, 12 p.m. 

Commissioned by curator Rob Lantz of Boulder’s R Gallery, four local visual artists were tasked with creating film-inspired art based on Jean-Phillippe Gaud’s Tazzeka. The film’s coming-of-age story follows a cooking-obsessed eleven-year-old boy from a rural village in Morocco on a journey to Paris, as he pines to become accomplished in the art of French cuisine. Preview the exhibition, then watch the film for an afternoon of cinematic and artistic creativity. 

Tazzeka, a drama about a young Moroccan man’s passion for food. Photo courtesy of the Flatiron Food Film Festival

Nothing Fancy: Diana Kennedy | October 12, 6 p.m. 

The big-ticket event of the weekend is this: The premiere of Nothing Fancy: Diana Kennedy and an accompanying Mexican feast courtesy of Centro Mexican Kitchen, Comal Heritage Food Incubator, Super Mega Bien, Teocalli Cocina, Work and Class, and Zocalito Latin Bistro. Famed by some as the “Julia Child of Mexico,” Kennedy is a culinary legend who prefers to be referred to as the “Mick Jagger of Mexican Cuisine.” After the screening, enjoy a discussion with James Beard Award semi-finalist and Top Chef contestant Claudette Zepeda of San Diego’s (now-closed) El Jardin and former Eater Denver editor Andra Zeppelin as they explore Zepeda’s background and culinary inspiration. 

The Biggest Little Farm Movie & Dinner | October 13, 4 p.m. 

Wrap up the festival weekend with a matinee of The Biggest Little Farm, a gorgeous documentary that chronicles one couple’s transformation from city-dwellers to regenerative farmers with the purchase of 200 acres of barren farmland… and a big dream. After the film, hear from Black Cat Farm owners Eric and Jill Skokan as they share the highs and lows of running their own biggest little farm in Boulder County. Finally, dig into a four-course dinner at the Skokan’s bistro, Bramble and Hare, featuring ingredients grown on their farm.